Too Much, Not Enough
by Flower Cynic
Summary: When Ino was fourteen, she figured out that she was falling for her former best friend, Sakura, but the pinkette soon leaves on a rather long mission. Now nineteen, Ino doesn't know how to handle her feelings when she's surprised by something unexpected.
1. Chapter 1: An Unexpected Surprise

Yeah, this idea was bugging me so much that I just had to start it. There's really nothing else I can put at the top. Ah, the disclaimer.

Diclaier: I don't own Naruto.

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**Chapter One: An Unexpected Surprise**

_My name is Yamanaka Ino and I'm nineteen years old. I'm the key kunoichi of Team Ten. I help my parents run their flower shop, which isn't too bad when it's not painfully boring. My current best friend is Shikamaru, the lazy bastard of Konoha. He's also my teammate along with Chouji. Yes, we're still teammates, even if me and Shikamaru are jonin now.  
_

_Some odd years ago, I had the biggest crush on Uchiha Sasuke. I honestly thought we were meant to be together. But really, just think about it. Uchiha Ino? Lame! Anyway, I'm over him now. Actually, I've been over him for a while now. I've been hanging out with him and Naruto a few times a week. They can be pretty fun at times. Well, Naruto can. _

_I love someone else now, anyway. I figured out my feelings when I was fourteen, but I never acted upon them. She'd hate me if she knew I was crushing on her anyway. Yes, I said 'she'. Sakura, the female ninja of Team Seven, would hate me if she knew that I liked her like that._

_When I was so much younger, before I was even a genin, I was best friends with Sakura. I helped her become a strong, beautiful girl. That friendship was ruined when we both started liking Sasuke. Truthfully, she was the one that ended our friendship, but I still stupidly let her walk away from me. I became her rival instead, fighting over Sasuke with her more times than I can remember._

_That was all before I found out that I loved her. I think she still liked Sasuke when I found out. I also think that she noticed when I stopped caring about Sasuke and actually started trying to avoid her. She never confronted me about it, though. Really, I tried my damned hardest to avoid every possibility of me seeing her or vice versa, but I still managed to somehow see her every day._

_However, Sakura left with her team on a mission that would take approximately a year to complete. I didn't like this one bit, even if I was trying to avoid her. Naturally, Shikamaru noticed when I became depressed and quiet, and I eventually confided in him about my feelings for Sakura. He took it quite well, actually. I have yet to tell Chouji, and I don't plan on doing it anytime soon._

_About a year later, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke come back from the mission. No Sakura. They all looked so sad, and Naruto looked like he had just finished crying when I finally saw them. Kakashi was the one that told me that Sakura had been captured. He told me that, because the chances of her surviving were so slim, she was most likely dead. That was like telling me that everyone I held dear to me had all perished in a fire._

_It's been four years since then. Nobody but Shikamaru knows that I ever loved Sakura. I think that some part of me still cries because of the death of the pinkette of Konoha, and just can't believe that she's actually gone._

_It's safe to say that these last four years have been absolute hell for me. Losing Sakura was bad enough, but...No, what happened on that mission will stay strictly between me, Tsunade, and Shikamaru. Nobody else needs to know._

Tightening her ponytail with a grumpy frown, Ino exited the apartment building she now lived in and marched down the street, intent on reaching the Hokage quickly so that she could go back home and relax on her day off sooner. Really, who did Tsunade think she was, calling her so early in the morning on a day like this? She had been asleep before the shrill ringing of her phone woke her up violently.

At least she didn't have a hangover like last time the Hokage had wanted her.

The blonde wasn't surprised when she saw hardly anyone outside, walking somewhere like she was. She wouldn't even be outside if Tsunade hadn't insisted that what she needed Ino for was absolutely urgent and that Ino had better get over there incredibly fast 'or else'. Ino hadn't stayed on the phone long enough to find out what she was in danger of if she didn't get her ass over to the Hokage Residence right away.

Flicking her hair out of her face, Ino continued to scowl as she walked briskly towards the building that she was steadily getting closer and closer to. It was too early for someone to even think for a second that she'd be all happy and cheerful about being told that she was needed for something urgent. At any other time it would have boosted her ego greatly, but now all she could think about was glaring a hole through the Fifth's forehead.

Ino continued to grumble about being called in at ungodly hours in the morning even after entering the Hokage Residence. She stormed over to Shizune's desk and slammed her hands on the top of it. Shizune looked up almost casually, having expected this kind of behaviour from the blonde when she was up so early. She had gotten used to it during the time that Ino had been a jonin, however short it may be.

"Ah, Ino. Lady Tsunade is expected you," Shizune nodded in the direction of the door that led to the Hokage before looking back down at her paperwork, intent on getting it done so that she could make sure Tsunade got her own work done.

Grunting grumpily, Ino walked away from Shizune's desk and towards the door to the Hokage's room. "'Lady' my ass..." She grumbled just before pushing through the door. She nearly stumbled back out as a result of what she saw, her teal eyes flying wide open. If she hadn't been completely awake before, she was now.

Tsunade turned her head slightly and smirked at the blonde who was obviously in a state of shock. "Ino, you made it," She greeted casually, her chin resting atop her fingers, which were clasped together. She, unlike Ino, seemed unfazed by the pinkette in the room, who looked like she had just had the best rest in the world.

Sakura hummed with curiousity and turned her head to look over her shoulder at Ino. She smiled at the expression on Ino's face, which stayed put even as the blonde walked on unsteady legs towards the Fifth's desk and stopped beside her. "Long time no see, Ino-pig," She grinned, though it faltered slightly when Ino didn't say anything or even glare at her because of the nickname.

Thousands of thoughts were going a mile a minute through Ino's head, so she felt she had the right to be so out of it at the moment. What was Sakura doing there? Wasn't she supposed to be dead? It had been four years after all! Was this all some sort of sick, twisted joke they had played on her, maybe to somehow get her to stop avoiding Sakura like the plague? It was all so confusing.

"I bet you're wondering why she's here," Tsunade started, still looking greatly amused because of the blonde. "Sakura came back a week ago and we treated her injures and such. She managed to get back to Konoha, even after being captured, and I admire her for it, seeing as how it's been so long already. However, you recall that she can no longer live in the old Haruno residence, as it was torn down two years ago."

Oh, no, she could see where this was going. Nevertheless, she could play dumb. "What does this have anything to do with me?" She asked, making sure to keep looking at Tsunade instead of at Sakura. It was bad enough that she could already feel a dull pain from the slightly hurt expression she could see out of the corner of her eye on the pinkette's face.

"You know very well what it has to do with you," Tsunade frowned at the fact that Ino was playing stupid with her. "She needs a place to stay. You have a place that someone can stay in. Make the connection, Yamanaka."

Ino immediatly put on a scowl, opening her mouth to protest. However, after receiving an intimidating glare from the Fifth, she thought better of it. "Fine..." She mumbled, looking down at the ground. "How long will she need to stay at my home?"

"As long as she wants. You two haven't seen in each other in a few years, I figured you'd be happy to see each other again. If I recall correctly, Ino, you were one of the ones that reacted the most to the news that Sakura was dead. It took Shikamaru, Chouji, and your parents two months to convince you to talk to them."

Ino looked angrily away from Sakura and Tsunade, stomping out of the room without waiting to be dismissed. "Whatever..." She growled, not even glancing at Shizune as she walked past the older girl and right out of the Hokage residence. She became aware of someone following her when she heard light, running footsteps advancing on her, yet she kept briskly walking back to her apartment.

"Ino, wait!" Sakura, after a few moments, caught up to the blonde, who didn't appear to be even thinking about slowing down for the pinkette. "Hey, stop," She said firmly, grasping Ino's wrist and stopping the blonde from continuing to walk. She frowned sternly at Ino.

"You haven't said a word to me yet, Ino. I've been gone for four years, five if you count the year before that I actually left on that mission. All I need to hear you say is one 'I missed you' and I'll feel better. Please," Sakura made sure to keep eye contact with the blonde for as long as she could, though that didn't turn out to be very long.

Ino scowled, not saying anything to the pinkette. She stood in silence, actually taking a moment to look over Sakura to see any changes. Her face had a certain angular look to it, and her curves were certainly more noticeable than when Ino had last seen her. Her hair should have been longer, but apparently it had been neatly trimmed up while Sakura had been treated.

"Just say anything," Sakura muttered and grasped Ino's chin only to have it wrenched violently out of her grip. She looked at the scowling blonde with confusion, waiting for her former best friend to say something.

"You want me to say something? Fine! How could you just get yourself caught and stay that way for four whole years without sending a single message or anything so we'd know you were dead?! When your team got back, Naruto was practically in tears! Just...How could you?!" Ino threw her arms up above her head and ground her teeth together, storming off towards her apartment again.

It took a moment, but Sakura finally caught up to Ino again, an annoyed, confused, and rather sad expression on her face. "You think getting caught was my fault?! I'm lucky I'm still alive, you pig! I thought you'd be happy to see me here!"

"Once again, you could have sent some kind of message! Do you know how depressed Naruto is half the time when I see him? He's one of the people who haven't gotten over your supposed 'death'!" Ino paused thoughtfully, suddenly turning her head to glare coldly at Sakura. "He hasn't been sad all week though."

Sakura remained silent, staring quietly at the ground as she continued to walk. Her pace seemed to slow, though, but that didn't stop Ino from slowing as well in order to keep glaring at her.

"I can't believe you! He's known this whole week?! He never told me! In fact, nobody told me! Has Shikamaru and Chouji known this whole time?" The blonde narrowed her eyes further when Sakura said nothing, but turned her head so that she couldn't see Ino out of the corner of her eyes anymore.

"They did! They never told me!" Ino practically roared. Sure, she knew that she was overreacting greatly, but she couldn't help it. Even Naruto had told her that she had been through a lot while Sakura was gone. Shikamaru and Chouji had told her that she had started to look different, and not in a good way. Sasuke had simply told her that she had looked like shit.

"Ino, don't you think you're overreacting?" Sakura asked, following the blonde into a building that she assumed was where Ino now lived. "I know, you should have been told, but I guess they figured that, since me and you hated each other, you wouldn't care."

The blonde flicked her hair out of her face again, eyes still narrowed dangerously as she stormed up the stairs and down the hallway, regardless of any people that were still sleeping. She threw open the door and kicked off her shoes, immediatly retreating to the living room portion of her apartment just as Sakura got in the door and shut it behind her.

_Just as I get over her, just as I fucking get over her!_ Ino thought angrily, collapsing onto her couch with her face buried in one of the cushions, her right arm hanging over the side, and her left arm straight down and touching her hip. She groaned tiredly into the couch, hearing soft footsteps coming closer to her.

Sakura sighed, standing by the couch with her hands crossed. Ino was muttering something into the couch that Sakura couldn't quite make out, but it sounded like 'fuck, fuck, fuck' to her. From the sudden growl of frustration, she assumed that she was right.

"What the hell are you doing here, Sakura?" Ino finally turned her head so that Sakura could understand her, once again glaring at the pinkette. Despite the fact that she found it increasingly hard to stay angry at Sakura, especially when Sakura looked so sad about how she was reacting, but she still managed to keep up her scowl.

"So you went from being angry about how I was gone for so long to being angry that I came back?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, drumming the fingers on her right hand against her left arm. "My, you certainly are grumpy this morning."

"Fuck off. You know damn well what I meant. Why agree to come here? Why not stay with Naruto or someone that you actually don't hate?" Ino shut her eyes, feeling an oncoming headache from the stress she knew she'd be put through. Her muscles were still sore from the last mission that she had gotten back from yesterday, and it didn't help that she hadn't gotten a very good rest. Damn the Hokage and her valid threats.

"You think I hate you?" Sakura asked softly, looking sadly down at Ino, who's scowl faltered noticeably. "I don't. I'd much rather stay with you than Naruto or anyone else. We kinda..." She vaguely gestured to herself, then to the blonde, "understand each other, y'know?"

"No, I don't. We fought over Sasuke for so long, I hardly even know you," Ino frowned and buried her face back into the cushion so that she didn't have to face the kicked-puppy look that she was familiar with on Sakura's face from so long ago. She had remembered that look well, as that was the face that the pinkette had always used on her in order to get something.

"Ino..."

After Ino's name was mumbled, both girls stayed silent for a few minutes with Ino not wanting to say anything for fear that her resolve would crumble even more and with Sakura not saying anything because she thought Ino wouldn't even acknowledge her if she did. Those few minutes of silence was enough for Ino, since the girl slid off the couch and trudged into the kitchen, exhaustion showing in her eyes.

Sakura moved towards Ino with alarm when the blonde winced and exhaled through her teeth, grabbing her side, then her shoulder when she found that that joint hadn't liked the sudden movement. "Ino, you're hurt," She stated the obvious, grabbing ahold of Ino's arm carefully.

"I'm just sore," Ino snapped, trying to wrench her arm away from Sakura, but didn't have the luck that she had had before. "Let go of me, I'm fine."

"No, you aren't. Not doing anything about it and just going to sleep will just make wherever you're sore even worse. Don't you remember when we were younger when you're leg was sore and you didn't do anything about it or tell anyone when it started hurting? It hurt so much that you were actually limping, and I noticed. Didn't you pull that muscle?" Sakura asked, steadily pulling Ino back to the couch.

"Yeah," Ino confirmed absently, allowing herself to be dragged back to the couch while she momentarily recalled that memory. "My parents fussed over me like a baby with a cold, then gave me shit when I felt better." Despite the situation, she grinned and giggled to herself, remembering how shocked she had been when, after telling her parents that her leg didn't hurt anymore, they suddenly turned on her and told her that she couldn't help out in the flower shop for a week for not telling anyone that her leg had hurt. Of course, back then she had absolutely adored helping out there.

Sakura nodded, smiling when the heard the very Ino-esque giggle from beside her. When she attempted to move Ino, she snapped out of her daydream and stepped away from the pinkette. "Ino..." Sakura started in a warning tone, "you're hurt. You can't just ignore your pain or it'll get worse."

"I'm perfectly fine, Forehead," Ino growled, completely ignoring Sakura's tone. "It'll pass soon enough." She pulled the elastic that held her hair back out of her hair and shook it out, looking away from Sakura's stern expression. "You can take the couch. This is my place, after all," She muttered, walking stiffly towards her own room.

"Well, don't complain to me when you're so sore that you can't walk," Sakura huffed, irritated at how stubborn her former best friend could be. A thought then crossed her mind. "Hey, isn't it basic manners to offer your guest your own bed instead of telling them to sleep on the couch?"

"When your pissed at your guest, that never counts," Ino disappeared into her room, shutting and leaning against her door with a relieved sigh. She was too tired to deal with this situation properly. Once she got some sleep, she figured that she'd be able to handle this whole 'Sakura's not actually dead' problem.

Knowing her, though, trying to handle it better would probably just confuse or amuse Sakura even more.

Ino walked silently towards her bed, shedding her pants and shirt and dropping them on the floor as she went. At the last moment, she turned from her bed and went towards her dresser for some pajama pants and a sports bra, her normal sleepwear.

_This is so confusing. I can't think about this right now or I'll never get to sleep, _Ino rubbed her forehead and groaned softly, pulling up her purple pajama pants after putting on her matching purple sports bra. She moved to the bed, pulling back the covers. She turned her head to look at the closed door when she heard Sakura's slightly muffled voice calling from the couch.

"Inooo, this couch is so uncomfortable!"

Ino looked back down at her bed and climbed onto it, snuggling up into the blanket. She winced when she moved her sore leg in a rather painful way, hurriedly moving it again so it didn't hurt as much._ So glad I have that couch out there. Otherwise I'd have to force her to sleep on the table or floor or somethin' out there. I don't even want to think about what I might do if she were to sleep in here..._

"Can't I have a blanket?"

_I mean, it's bad enough she has to stay in the same apartment as me._

"Or at the very least a pillow?

The blonde groaned and slid out of her bed, walking towards her closet and pulling out a folded up blanket that was laying at the bottom of it. Wearing a distinctly grumpy expression, she left her room, dragging the blanket behind her, and paused in front of Sakura, who was stretched out on the couch with her eyes closed and her hands behind her head.

"Here. Now shut up so I can get some sleep," Ino grumbled, dropping the blanket beside the couch. She figured that if she didn't fall asleep soon, she'd end up sleeping during her whole day off. That thought made Ino pause, but on the outside she kept walking towards her room again.

_I have to spend my whole day off with Sakura. What's worse is that I might have to explain what's happened in the last five years if Naruto or anyone else hasn't already._

Ino frowned and shut the door behind her as soon as she got into her room, flicking off the light with a small sigh. _I can only hope she can't read me as well as she could when we were best friends. That may cause me trouble in more ways that one. _The blonde closed her eyes and pulled the blanket up to her chin, closing her eyes and drifting off into a sound sleep. She wasn't looking forward to waking up with her secret love in her apartment.

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There, Chapter One is done. Just so you know and so it doesn't look all weird, when the time Sakura was gone is said to be four years, it means the time that she was captured and supposed to be in Konoha, and when it's five years, that's including the time that she was actually supposed to be out on the mission. Oh, and Ino has quite the mouth on her in this story, doesn't she?

Oh, and I will still be adding to 'Steps To Success', so don't think I've forgotten about it. I'm just a bit stumped as to what to really have happen in that chapter. I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough.

- Flower Cynic


	2. Chapter 2: How To Gather Information

Thanks to all the people who reviewed. It always makes me grin nice and big when I read one.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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**Chapter 2: How To Gather Information**

It was a generally nice day outside. The birds were chirping happily, and the wind made the temperature not too cold and not too hot at the same time. People were spending most of their time outside instead of being in an incredibly hot house. It was just that kind of day that made you want to go outside and make the best of the day. It was also the kind of day that had Ino wishing that she had Tenten's accuracy with throwing weapons so she could go outside and kill each bird one by one.

The blonde, even after she had woken up, stayed in her bed with her blanket up over her head. She just wanted to spend the whole day in bed, but she knew that if she did that, it would just be wasting her day off. That still wasn't enough to actually motivate her to get out of bed. No, the reason she finally dragged herself out of bed was because of an enticing smell that had somehow made it's way into her room.

Ino groaned and rubbed her stomach when it rumbled, moving towards the door to see what that smell was. However, she thought better of going out there dressed like she was and walked over to her closet in search of something to put on over top of her sports bra.

Impatient, Ino figured that her over-sized pink t-shirt would be fine, and lazily put it on before exiting her room and walking a bit disoriented towards the kitchen. It never crossed her mind that someone was in her kitchen, apparently cooking, as she was too tired to even realize that her hair was a tangled mess and she looked as tired as Tsunade with a hangover.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Sakura greeted the blonde with an amused grin. She was leaning against the counter, apparently waiting for something to cook. "You never were a morning person," She remembered with a broader grin.

Ino squinted slightly, trying to remember why Sakura was in her apartment, cooking food for her. _Think, Ino, thiiiiink..._ After a few moments, her eyes widened with realization, looking like the perfect 'A-ha!' moment.

"Oh!" Ino walked towards Sakura, carefully watching her step so she didn't stumble like she tended to do when she had just woken up. Once she reached the pinkette, she wrapped her arms around her in a hug and rested her chin on Sakura's left shoulder.

"I'm really sorry I didn't say this yesterday, but I'm so glad you aren't dead," The blonde muttered, forcing back the urge to just fall asleep on Sakura's shoulder. She couldn't help but smile happily when she felt Sakura's arm wrap around her as well, returning the hug.

"It's okay, Ino," Sakura replied, glad that Ino no longer seemed as angry with her as she had been earlier. "I kinda figured that you were too grumpy and tired to really care at that moment."

Ino reluctantly pulled away from Sakura to eye the food that was cooking. She could see bacon, toast, and hash browns, the hash browns being what drew her closer to the stove. She was so busy watching the food cook that she missed Sakura giggling at how she had just suddenly lost interest in the pinkette, in favor of the food.

Sakura hummed with surprise and confusion when Ino suddenly flinched away when a piece of bacon suddenly started sizzling loudly from the grease that was pooled around it. That confusion quickly left, replaced by a certain stern, scolding look as soon as the pinkette moved behind Ino so the blonde couldn't back up anymore away from the food.

"Sakura, I'm not really that hungry. I think I'm gonna skip breakfast," Ino said after spinning around to face Sakura instead of the rather noisy bacon. She actually looked sick now, the colour having been drained from her face.

"Nonsense. You're going to eat. Actually, now that I think about it, you look rather starved," Sakura paused and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the blonde. "Take off your shirt," She instructed, pointing to the over-sized piece of clothing in question.

Ino clicked her teeth together and couldn't help but think about what she had been told to do. Somehow she had always pictured that Sakura would tell her that under different circumstances, not to see if Ino was eating well or not. "No. You won't like it."

"Ino, take it off," Sakura said in a much firmer tone, frowning slightly. Obviously, she wasn't actually thinking about how what she was saying could come off as rather suggestive. She was too focussed on trying to see if Ino was being ridiculous about staying thin again.

"I won't," Ino shook her head stubbornly, crossing her arms. "I'm just not hungry, Sakura. It's no reason to get all paranoid about."

"You're being childish."

"No, I'm being- Hey!" Ino hurriedly tried to cover herself, even if she was still wearing her purple sports bra. She narrowed her eyes angrily at Sakura, who had pulled her t-shirt off of her when she was distracted. "Gimme that back!" She reached for her shirt, though Sakura pulled it away just before she could touch it.

"I-Ino...What did you do to yourself?" Sakura asked quietly, staring wide-eyed at the front portion of Ino's upper body. The very first thing she had noticed was the scar on the blonde's left side that started near the middle of her rib cage and ended at her waist. It was obvious that she had been hurt in several other places on her front, but they were still healing and weren't going to scar.

Only after she looked over the scar and the injuries that Ino had did Sakura notice her protruding ribs, which were partly covered by the sports bra Ino had on.

Ino smiled sadly and backed away from Sakura, inching towards her room. She rested a hand over the scar on her side, then used the other to play along her ribs. "I stayed true to my name," She said with a rather fake smile before dashing into her room, intent on getting to it before Sakura could get to her.

The pinkette frowned and marched over to Ino's door, trying to open it only to find it locked. "Ino..." She started, careful to not call Ino the nickname she had picked for her a few years ago to spite the blonde, like Ino had picked 'Forehead' for her, "open up this door. Please, you need to eat something. What you're doing to yourself isn't healthy."

No anwer came from Ino's room. So, after waiting for another two minutes, Sakura assumed that Ino wouldn't be coming out anytime soon, and decided to go eat her breakfast before it got cold.

When she had first starting cooking their food, Sakura had imagined breakfast to be like a catch-up time that she could use to ask Ino what she'd been doing for the past five years. But now, as it turned out, she wasn't even going to be eating breakfast with the blonde. Well, at least she had figured out what her former best friend had been doing. Starving herself.

Narrowing her eyes with displeasure, Sakura calmly ate her food, staring hard at the food she had set out for Ino anyway while she ate. She wasted no time after she finished eating to abandon her plate and fork in the sink before walking back to the door to Ino's room.

Sakura knocked lightly on the door, if only to get the blonde's attention. "Ino, I'm going to go visit Naruto. Your breakfast is on the table, in case you still want some. I'll be back later." Sakura sighed when she received no reply and moved to the door, slipping on her shoes before exiting the apartment all together.

The apartment was quiet for a whole ten minutes before Ino opened her door slowly and peered around carefully, seeing if Sakura was trying to trick her into coming out of her room so she could hold her down and force answers out of her. When she finally decided that Sakura wasn't in the apartment, the blonde slowly left her room and headed for the kitchen, pausing by the table to look at the food that was slowly getting colder each minute.

"I _have _always loved hash browns..."

* * *

The very well-known hyperactive blonde boy of Konoha grinned broadly at Sasuke, who he had just surprised by jumping down from a tree and landing in front of him. While he hadn't yelled like he knew Sakura would have, the look on the Uchiha's face had been priceless. Naruto wished he had had a camera with him.

"Naruto, you idiot," Sasuke sighed, rolling his eyes before continuing to walk back to Konoha. The two boys had been training for the last hour, and had decided to call it quits when Naruto started getting restless about seeing Sakura again. Sure, he had just seen her the other day, and every other day that week, but that was beside the point. He had to ask her how she was fairing at Ino's apartment.

Truthfully, Naruto had been rather surprised when he found out that nobody had told Ino about Sakura's arrival at Konoha. It was a rather big thing, too. Even Ino's teammates knew about it.

Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked through the gates into Konoha, still wearing a large grin. "I still can't believe I managed to scare you. I didn't think it'd actually work!" He laughed, closing his eyes for a few moment before opening them and glancing at the scowling face of Sasuke. This only made him laugh more.

"Shut up," Sasuke reached over and pushed Naruto, and since the blonde boy was caught off-guard, he lost his balance and fell. He didn't even pause for a moment to wait for Naruto to get back up. He didn't need to anyway, since the nine-tailed fox vessel was already getting to his feet and catching up to him.

"Heey, Sasuke, what was that for?" Naruto asked, frowning at Sasuke when he just gave him a look before walking ahead of him. Naruto shrugged after a moment and, deciding to leave Sasuke for the moment, turned right and jogged towards Ino's apartment with the intention of seeing Sakura.

It turned out that he didn't need to walk very far, since Naruto saw Sakura walking in the direction _away _from Ino's apartment with a rather worried look on her face. "Sakura!" He called to get her attention, speeding up to jog towards her. "Somethin' wrong?" He asked.

Sakura couldn't help but smile at Naruto. Four years and his concern for her never disappeared. She was grateful for that. "It's Ino," She sighed, her smile immediatly being replaced by a frown at the thought of the blonde starving herself.

Naruto blinked, looking somewhere off to the side to avoid making eye contact with Sakura. "Oh?" He asked, though Sakura could tell that he was hiding something. It was painfully obvious. Naruto had never been a very good liar, which was something else that hadn't changed in the four years she had been presumed dead.

"Spill it. What do you know about this and why didn't you tell me what had happened to her this past week?" Sakura demanded, her bright green eyes narrowing slightly. She put her hands on her hips, waiting patiently for Naruto to speak.

"I hardly know anything about this at all. All I know is that she's starved and hardly eats. It's not healthy," Naruto said, frowning slightly. "She won't tell me anything about it. But, I do know one other thing," He paused for a dramatic effect, successfully irking Sakura. "She only started this whole thing after a mission she went on with Shikamaru, Neji, and Temari."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the last name. "Temari? Isn't she from the Sand, though?" She asked, silently deciding that she would go and confront one of those people about this whole thing when she was done talking to Naruto.

"Yeah, but Granny requested that she come and join the team for the mission. Apparently she didn't see anyone else fit for the fourth position." Naruto shrugged, finally looked back down at Sakura. "You could probably get more information out of either of those three, if Temari comes back to Konoha for another three months. Oh, and Grandma knows."

Sakura couldn't help but scowl. Her mentor didn't even so much as warn her! She took a deep breath to calm herself and smiled gratefully up at Naruto. "Thanks, Naruto. I appreciate it. Umm...Do you mind...?"

"Oh! No, not at all," Naruto grinned broadly. "I hafta go catch up to Sasuke, anyway. Seeya 'round, Sakura," He said, giving Sakura a friendly hug before dashing off, intent on finding Sasuke before the Uchiha got too far ahead of him.

Sakura laughed lightly at Naruto. He still acted like such a kid. Thinking back to what Naruto had said, the pinkette made a mental list of who she should confront about what happened to the blonde. Shikamaru, Neji, Tsunade, and Temari. She could always ask Shikamaru about whether or not Temari would be coming to Konoha anytime soon.

* * *

"Tenten! Is this not the best ramen you've had?"

Sakura couldn't help but grin when she heard Lee's voice sounding as enthusiastic as ever. She entered the Ichiraku Ramen Bar and was greeted by the sight of Lee slurping up a bowl of ramen, Tenten looking at him with a rather amused expression, and Neji calmly sitting on the other side of Tenten. There wasn't even a bowl in front of him, so Sakura assumed that he hadn't had any.

The pinkette stood there, amused that she hadn't been noticed yet, until Tenten seemed to notice that they weren't the only ones there and turned around. The brunette smiled in greeting to Sakura and waved slightly.

"Hey, Sakura. You look much better than when I last saw you," Tenten observed, since the last time she had seen Sakura, the pinkette had been bruised and exhausted. "Is there something you need?" She added before Lee could say anything to possibly annoy Sakura.

"Actually, there is. I was hoping to speak to Neji," Sakura replied, glancing at the Hyuga just as he turned to look at her. "I need to talk to him about a few things regarding a mission he took with Shikamaru, Temari, and Ino."

Neji's eyes narrowed faintly, though he still had a calm look on his face. "Very well. I have no business here, anyway," He stated, standing up from the stool and walking out of the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

Sakura nodded, murmuring a quick farewell to Tenten and Lee before following Neji. She didn't say anything when he kept walking, even when they were out of the Ramen Bar. Perhaps he wanted privacy. That was fine with her, since she would have asked him if there was anywhere private they could go. She didn't want one eavesdropper to hear them talking about this mission then having it spread to the whole village.

"What do you know about this?" Neji asked, walking towards the Hyuga compound with his arms hanging by his sides. He only cast a single glance at Sakura when the pinkette jogged for a moment so that she was walking beside him instead of behind him.

"I know that this mission somehow affected Ino, but I don't know why. Just tell me what you can, please," Sakura asked, deciding not to ask why they were at the Hyuga compound. She only took a seat on the chair that was offered to her, across from Neji's chair.

Neji turned to a boy who looked about ten years old, muttering something to the boy, before turning back to Sakura just after the boy nodded and left briskly. He seemed to be contemplating something, concentrating hard on the table top in front of him. Finally, he looked back up at Sakura's face, as if he was studying her to see if he should actually tell her anything.

Sakura looked right back at him, refusing to be intimidated by the Hyuga. "Please, Neji. She's my friend, I care about her. I need to know why she's doing this so I can help her," She urged the twenty year old.

Sighing lightly, Neji closed his eyes and leaned forward, tilting his head down slightly and setting his hands in his lap. "It was a top-priority mission. I still don't understand why Yamanaka was assigned to the mission instead of, say, Naruto or the Uchiha. The mission would have benefitted more if we had anyone more skilled than Yamanaka, and we both know that there's a great chance of there being more than five of those people."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, resisting to urge to scowl at the fact that Neji had just insulted Ino without really even thinking about it. She wisely kept quiet, watching as the boy from before came back with what was obviously herbal tea just from the smell of it. Waiting patiently, Sakura fidgetted slightly with her hands as Neji calmly sipped his tea, nodding at the boy to dismiss him.

"We were sent to gather information on a bandit clan that had been killing people from several small villages," Neji continued, blinking open his eyes to gaze intently at Sakura. "I took us two weeks of travelling to get to the village we were supposed to get information from."

Sakura nodded slightly, clicking her teeth together sympathetically. Two weeks of listening to Ino complain? That had to have gotten annoying after just the first day. She gestured for Neji to continue, though she really didn't need to.

"I can't really tell you anything after that. A majority of the time, I stayed with Temari and Shikamaru stayed with Yamanaka. Each day we returned to the camp we had set up just outside of the village. One day, Shikamaru returned with no Ino. He was panicking and looked to be almost tearing up."

Neji paused, as if pondering something. "I've never seen someone so lazy move so quickly. He came back to camp an hour after him and Ino were supposed to be there, telling us that Yamanaka had been taken. The time she was gone is still nothing compared to your's, Sakura. We had no clue where she was for two months, and it took another month to get her away from who had taken her and back to Konoha."

Sakura had bowed her head, sadly staring at her lap. Why had Ino not told her this? Did the blonde think that she didn't care about her? Shaking her head slightly with a sigh, she looked back up at Neji with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Neji. I appreciate what you've told me. Um...I just have one last thing to ask..."

"And what is that?"

"Do you know why I was never informed about this when I returned? Ino was my best friend, after all."

Neji raised an eyebrow, obviously having been expecting another question. "I'm assuming that they thought that either you didn't care or they thought that it wasn't important enough to tell you."

The pinkette stood up, silently excusing herself from the Hyuga's presence. Her mind was pointing towards the former assumption that Neji made to be the right one.

* * *

_I can't believe she's trying to find out things about me from other people when I wouldn't tell her myself! This is, like...an invasion of privacy!_

Ino scowled, storming away from Naruto with a dangerous look in her eyes. She had just left the apartment when she had come across Naruto and Sasuke. Straight away, Naruto had told her that Sakura had asked him about what she was doing to herself, and that he had told her that if anyone would know what truly happened for her to starve herself, it would be Tsunade, Neji, Temari, or Shikamaru.

While Ino was annoyed with Naruto for ever giving any information about that to Sakura, the blonde was still even angrier at Sakura for deciding to run around Konoha for information that she didn't want the pinkette to know.

Fuming silently, Ino reminded herself that if there was one person she needed to keep away from Sakura at the moment, it was Shikamaru. He was her best friend, so naturally she had told him everything that had happened to her. The lazy Nara could quite possibly know everything that was happening to her in her life. However, she did know one thing that she was sure he didn't know about, this being her sudden liking for Sakura since she was fourteen.

Ino panicked a bit when she thought about how Sakura could already be at Shikamaru's right this moment. She broke into a run, sprinting off towards the Nara household in hopes of getting there before the pinkette did. Fortunately for her, Shikamaru didn't live that far away from where her apartment was, so she got there in no time.

"Hey, Shika! Open up!" The blonde yelled so that her voice was heard well, even through the door. _Open up, open up, open uppp..._ She sighed with relief when her best friend finally opened the door with an irked expression on his face.

"What do you want, Ino?" Shikamaru grunted, moving out of the way just in time to avoid being bowled over by Ino, who looked around the house as soon as she had gotten in it. "Is there a reason you're looking around my house?"

"Sakura hasn't come by, has she?" Ino asked, turning on her heel to face Shikamaru, who shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his head. "Good. If she does come by, she'll be asking you all about that mission. Don't tell her anything," Ino said firmly, frowning when a disinterested expression crossed Shikamaru's face.

"You think I'd tell her about that? Ino, if you wanted her to know, you'd have told her. I'm not going to tell her anything you don't want her to know," The shadow manipulator informed her, hardly even moving when somebody knocked on the door.

"Let me get it," Ino said with a distinctly grim look on her face, actually pushing Shikamaru away from the door when he didn't move fast enough for her. It was just who she expected it to be.

"Ino?" The pinkette at the door said with surprise, blinking her eyes a few times as if she thought that she was seeing things. "What are you doing here? I thought you had stayed in your room?" She asked, her voice lowering noticeably.

The blonde flicked her hair out of her face and glared at Sakura. "I left only a little while ago. I ran into Naruto, and y'know what he told me?" She asked, though didn't give her former best friend any time to answer. "He told me that you asked him, and I quote, 'what I was doing to myself'. He said that he told you who to talk to if you wanted to know."

Sakura lowered her eye to the ground for a moment before flicking them back up to Ino's teal eyes, glaring at the Yamanaka. "Can I help it if I'm concerned about you? Ino, I just want to know what happened to make you like this so I can try to help."

"You shouldn't worry about me. Worry about yourself, you're the one that was captured for four years," Ino said firmly, scowling when Sakura didn't look like she was going to back down, even after she had said that.

"That may be true, but I'm not the one who looks like she could be snapped in half like a twig," Sakura snapped. "I got help, and now I'm good as new. I wish I could say the same for you, but you're too proud to even think for a second that you need help!"

"I don't need help!"

"See?!"

"When you two are done screaming at each other, I'd like to go back and rest in peace," Shikamaru interrupted whatever Ino was going to say back, looking with an irritated expression at Sakura, then Ino, and back again.

"Whatever, Shika. I'm leaving anyway," The blonde huffed and pushed past Sakura, scowling at the ground in front of her. She listened intently for the sound of someone following her, but no such sound ever appeared.

Sakura watched Ino as she stormed off before looking apologetically at Shikamaru. "I'm sorry," She muttered before walking away from Shikamaru's house, deciding to take a walk around Konoha before returning to Ino's apartment.

Shikamaru grunted and rolled his eyes, muttering a quick 'how troublesome' under his breath before closing the door.

* * *

It was darker now, almost completely night. The sun had just about disappeared, and the pinkette of Konoha was just returning to Ino's apartment with a tired look on her face. That walk had taken her longer than she had expected, because she had run into Lee again just after she had left Shikamaru's house, then found Naruto at the Ramen Bar. Now all she wanted to do was go to sleep.

Sakura pushed through the door and into where Ino lived, quietly kicked off her shoes. She practically dragged herself towards the couch. However, just as she was about to collapse on the couch, she did a double take at what was there, her eyes widening.

Instead of in her bed, Ino was laying curled up on the couch, one of the couch cushions serving as her pillow. She was actually scowling in her sleep, her eyebrows knitted together and her mouth hanging open slightly.

The pink-haired girl couldn't help but smile softly and shake her head when Ino mumbled quietly in her sleep and snuggled further into the cushion on the couch. She slowly looked over at the door that led to Ino's room, contemplating whether or not she wanted to just take Ino's bed, since the blonde had claimed the couch apparently.

_No, she'd bite my head off if she found out I was even in her room in the first place, _Sakura thought with an exasperated look on her face._ Then again, if she wakes up and I'm sleeping beside her, she'd probably fly off the handle like that as well. Ah, screw it. The couch is where I sleep, and she should have kept that in mind when she fell asleep on it._

Sakura sighed and took the blanket that was laying on the floor in her hands, spreading it out over the couch. She carefully pushed Ino towards the back of the couch before settling on it herself, facing the sleeping blonde.

Blinking her bright green eyes slowly, Sakura watched the blonde for a few moments, still worried about her former best friend. _I'll sort this out with her tomorrow..._

Sakura blinked her eyes back open with alarm just after she closed them, having felt movement against her. She looked at Ino to see that the blonde had tried moving forward again after being pushed back, but after feeling something warm in front of her, she had pressed herself against it. That thing just happened to be Sakura.

The pinkette blushed, trying to ignore Ino's breath against her neck. This was a rather...awkward position. She could only hope that she woke up before Ino did, or else she might not here the end of it. If she was still around if Ino woke up before her, anyway.

That was when she got an idea. Carefully watching Ino's face so that she would know if the blonde started to wake up, Sakura used her right hand to slowly slide up under the Yamanaka's shirt to touch her protruding ribs carefully, wincing slightly at how she could easily feel the dip between each rib.

Sakura froze up when Ino shifted slightly in her sleep, blushing even brighter than before when she heard a soft moan coming from the unhealthy girl. _God, it's like I'm molesting her in her sleep..._ She thought, hurriedly pulling her hand away from the blonde's ribs in favor of dragging her index fingers along the scar on Ino's side.

_It feels like some sort of dagger was the cause of this scar... _Sakura observed with a small frown, reluctantly pulling her hand away from the scar after feeling Ino move again. The last thing she wanted to do was have Ino wake up to the feel of her hand in the blonde's shirt.

_Damn, she doesn't have tomorrow off. Stupid flower shop. _Sakura blinked, a slow smile spreading across her face when she came up with an idea. _That just means that she can't run from me if I start asking questions. Wonderful!_

Still wearing a broad grin, Sakura rested her chin on the top of Ino's head and lazily draped an arm over the blonde's waist, her other arm underneath the couch cushion they were using as a pillow. _Ino, you're still my friend, even if you don't think so. I may have been captured for four years, but you're still my top priority._

* * *

_Next time: Ino and Sakura are summoned by Tsunade. She has her reasons._

Well, I like this chapter. It's definitely longer than the first one, but I didn't want to end it in the middle of Ino's day off and have that day drag on for two chapters, so I kept it to one. Yes, I have this weird habit of making things hard for my favourite character in everything. In this case it's Ino.

Hah, I adore Neji and I don't know why. He's just the best. Thought I'd throw that one out there.

There was originally going to be a sort of flashback to Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, and Temari travelling to their destination, but I decided to leave it out. Tell me if you want flashbacks for Sakura, Ino, or both and I'll gladly put some in. Oh, and I thought I'd throw in that little 'next time' thing, just so you know what to sort of expect. It's nice and vague.

- Flower Cynic


	3. Chapter 3: My Lover! My Bitch!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

It was morning again, and one of the two people that had previously been asleep on the couch was starting to stir. Unfortunately, it wasn't Sakura. Ino groaned quietly, noting how her bed seem a bit smaller at the moment. Well, she believed it was her bed until she managed to crack her eyes open. She first noticed a peach colour right in front of her eyes, though she couldn't quite tell what it was.

Ino frowned, concentrating on clearing up her vision by rubbing at her eyes, then blinking them furiously. What had happened? She didn't seem to have made the biggest mistake in her life, since she couldn't feel a hangover, so she hadn't been drunk the night before. Thinking back, she remembered that she had just collapsed on the couch when she had gotten through the door. It hadn't even occured to her at the time where Sakura would sleep.

Staying silent, Ino knew she could hear breathing that wasn't her. That proved what she now thought. Slowly, she pulled away from the neck she was almost smothering herself in and looked at the girl that was sleeping next to her. _Oh no, I didn't do anything to her in my sleep, did I?_

The blonde looked down to where her hands were, immediatly breathing a sigh of relief. Her left one was pressed palm-down against Sakura's stomach and her other one was on the pinkette's hip. That wasn't so bad, considering Sakura had one of her arms over top of her waist.

Ino smiled slowly, looking back at Sakura's face, where a glistening trail of drool caught her eye. She giggled softly, momentarily forgetting how angry she had been at Sakura the day before. _Oh, Sakura, you're so cute..._ Ino swooned in her head, slowly closing her eyes again. She was all set to snuggle up into Sakura and go back to sleep when she heard Sakura sigh softly, stirring from her sleep.

_Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap..._ Ino mentally panicked, jerking her hands away from Sakura like the pinkette had just burned her. Thinking fast, Ino forced herself to relax and close her eyes again, making her mouth hang open so that she looked like she was asleep just as Sakura opened her eyes.

The pinkette gazed at the apparently sleeping form of Ino, smiling slowly. "You'd have convinced me that you were asleep if it weren't for your breathing. It's too quick for a sleeping person," She murmured sleepily, laughing at the blonde when Ino blinked open her eyes and pouted.

"Damn you and you're observation skills," Ino muttered, snuggling further into the couch cushion, which she was slowly inching away from Sakura, instead of snuggling up into the pinkette like she had been going to do until Sakura woke up. She finally stole the cushion completely from Sakura, flipping herself around so that her back was facing Sakura, and hugged the cushion after resting her head on it.

"Hey, gimme that back," Sakura tried half-heartedly to get the cushion back, or at least half of it, but failed in the end. She grumbled and shifted constantly, trying to get comfortable.

"Fine, y'know what? I'm gonna use you for a pillow instead, since you took my half of that thing," Sakura nodded towards the cushion before wrapping her arms around Ino's waist and pulling the blonde towards her suddenly so that she was hugging her like Ino was hugging the cushion. The pinkette rested her cheek on Ino's arm, grinning and closing her eyes.

Ino cleared her throat, trying to fight back a blush that was burning her face. She moved uncomfortably, only blushing more when she ended up pushing her rear against Sakura's stomach.

"Jeez, you have a bony butt," Sakura observed, though didn't move at all. She cracked one eye open to see a pair of teal eyes glaring back at her.

"My ass is perfectly fine," Ino frowned and took one arm off of the cushion so that she could set a hand on her backside. "You're just jealous because I have the best ass in Konoha."

_Not since you cut back on eating..._ Sakura stuck her tongue out at Ino. "You wish," She scoffed, tightening her grip around Ino's waist when the blonde tried to get away from her. "Oh, no you don't. Give me back my half of the cushion and I'll let go."

"Screw that. It's not worth it." Ino simply grasped the cushion tighter and buried her face into it, groaning loudly when she heard the shrill ringing of her phone. Still, she didn't move, which was why Sakura slowly slid off the couch and moved towards where the noise of the ringing was coming from.

"Ino's apartment, Sakura speaking."

Ino slowly started to drift off to sleep again, covering herself in the blanket so that she was blocking out any distracting light. Just as she expected, though, Sakura returned before she could actually fall asleep again.

"Who was it, what did they want, and who the fuck said they could call when I'm trying to sleep?" Ino asked, turning her head so that she wasn't talking into the couch cushion. Sakura didn't seem to be returning to the couch, since she was started to tidy up her hair as best as she could with only her fingers.

"Lady Tsunade, she wants to speak to us, and I doubt anyone did," Sakura answered, smiling with amusement when the blonde lazily rolled off the couch, wrapping herself in the blanket as she went so she had trapped herself in it.

"What is it with her and calling at ungodly hours in the morning...?" Ino mumbled into the blanket, tilting her head up as best as she could to look at Sakura. "Well, what do you think she needs us for?"

"It's only six in the morning. I'm normally up by now," Sakura walked away from the blonde for a moment, apparently searching the living room for a brush of some sort. "I'm thinking something along the lines of how I'm going to be living here for the next little while is what she wants to talk to us about. D'you have a brush anywhere?" That was a stupid question, of course Ino had a brush somewhere.

"In my room on my dresser," Ino mumbled, waiting patiently for Sakura to return before talking once again. "Did she threaten you to get us over there faster?" She asked, forcing herself to sit up instead of continue to lay on the floor in a heap with the blanket.

Sakura took a seat on the couch, brushing her hair while watching Ino was amusement as the blonde looked around grumpily. "Nope. Why? Has she done it to you before?" She asked, tilting her head slightly with wonder.

"Yeah. She told me to get over there 'or else' when I had to go there to get you." Ino actually crawled towards the couch and climbed tiredly on top of it next to Sakura, turning her back to the pinkette. She raised her hand over her shoulder, pointing to her tangled blonde hair with her thumb. "Do me?" She asked, smirking to herself at her wording of the question.

Apparently not noticing, Sakura finished brushing her hair quickly, as it didn't take long with her hair short, and turned to Ino. "Sure." She set her hand on the back of Ino's head and ran the brush down the parts of blonde hair that she had her hand at the base of to avoid accidentally pulling the Yamanaka's hair.

The pinkette raised an eyebrow when Ino attempted to hide a giggle, but failed. "What's so funny?" She asked, moving slightly to the side to see the corner of Ino's smirk.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Ino grinned slyly at Sakura, waiting patiently for her to finish brushing her long blonde hair. It took a considerably longer amount of time than Sakura's hair because of the length difference.

Ino smiled and ran her fingers through her hair when Sakura was finished brushing it. "Silky smooth..." She drawled happily before getting off of the couch and disappearing into her room, obviously to change.

Sakura shook her head, smirking with amusement, before carefully examining her own clothes. She really had to go shopping for some new clothes. It was painful enough she had to wear these clothes for this long, even if they were still quite clean.

"D'you want to borrow some of my clothes, Forehead?" Ino's voice called from her room, causing Sakura to blink with surprise and wonder if Ino had received the ability to read minds from spending so much time in other people's heads.

"Yeah, sure. I'd rather not walk around smelling like something died on me," Sakura called back, mentally kicking herself over the fact that she had forgotten to talk a shower. Moving as quietly as she could, Sakura crept around the apartment, frowning when she couldn't find any shower.

Sakura immediatly made a face. That meant it was in Ino's room. Drawing in a deep breath, Sakura positioned herself by Ino's door, silently counting to three before pushing into Ino's room and making a beeline for the bathroom in there. The last thing she saw before she had trapped herself in the bathrom was the blonde's rear that had been pressed against her stomach only a few minutes earlier.

"Ah, Billboard Brow!" Ino cried out after a few moments of standing there in shock. "I was just about to go in there!" Ino smashed her fist against the door, scowling when the pinkette inside giggled. "You're such a bitch! Let me in!" She demanded.

"Nope, I got here first, P-..." Sakura cleared her throat, cutting herself off. "Anyway, you'll just have to wait your turn!" She tried to cover up her mistake by focussing Ino's attention on something else.

Even if Sakura couldn't exactly see Ino, she could tell from the short pause that she had upset the blonde even the slightest. "Just don't waste all the hot water," Ino huffed from the other side of the door.

* * *

"Shizune!"

Sakura grinned broadly, waving in greeting at the aforementioned brunette. Ino was by her side, her teal eyes narrowed with irritation and her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Sakura's stance was more relaxed and less defensive, especially since she was still grinning brightly instead of scowling like the Yamanaka was.

"Hello, Sakura. Ino. Lady Tsunade is waiting for you two," Shizune nodded to the door, unfazed by the annoyed grumbling from Ino as the blonde strode into the room that she had gestured to and by the apologetic smile Sakura offered her before rushing after Ino.

Two surprises in less than a week? Nothing could have possibly prepared her for this. What was worse? She could already tell what this was about.

As soon as the two girls barged in, the three people in the room fell silent and looked at them. One with annoyance, one with indifference, and one with cool curiousity. Tsunade, Shikamaru, and Neji.

"Finally, you two decided to join us?" Tsunade frowned, unable to keep a small twitch out of her eye. She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to calm herself. Her glare still persisted, though.

Ino stayed silent, unaware that Sakura was watching her with great worry. The last time these people had gathered, something bad had apparently happened to Ino to damage the blonde emotionally, mentally, and physically. Now they were meeting again, though Sakura couldn't help but wonder why she was there.

"Temari will be arriving at the village later today. For now, I need you four to know that you will be leaving on a mission that is a continuation of the last mission Hyuga, Nara, and Yamanaka took together. Sakura, you will join this team for medic ninja purposes. I assume you're already aware of, at the very least, the injuries each person on this team sustained and had to come back to Konoha with?"

"Just some of Ino's..." Sakura murmured, still watching the blonde beside her with concern. When she detected faint shaking coming from the florist, she reached over and grasped Ino's hand, holding onto it protectively.

Ino smiled hesitantly at Sakura. _Ohh, Sakura, you've always been so kind and caring. How do I repay you? Blowing up in your face when you need a place to stay. Wow, that's depressing. _Sighing, Ino looked back at Tsunade, her previous smile long since being replaced by a frown.

"The others had as many injuries as she did trying to get her back," Tsunade replied, closing her eyes for a few moments and resting her chin on the backs of her fingers, which were clasped together. "Come back here in a week. That's when you leave for the mission."

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, obviously going to say something in regards to the fact that Ino shouldn't be going on a continuation mission when her first experience was bad enough, but she never got the chance to before Tsunade dismissed them.

Frowning with frustration, Sakura dragged Ino out the door before Shikamaru or Neji could have possibly made it, not even saying bye to Shizune. Instead, she focussed on getting her blonde friend out of the residence and in her apartment.

"Woah, hold up, Haruno!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes crossly, momentarily pausing to look back at Shikamaru and Neji, who were calmly taking their time walking out of the building. "What?"

"On this mission, I want you to know that you can't be biased. Just because Ino was once your friend doesn't mean that you focus on solely healing her, especially if one of us has a much larger injury. Also, I want you to focus on the mission, not on protecting Ino," Shikamaru said, his tone showing his authority.

Sakura narrowed her eyes even further. "I wouldn't-"

"You would. That's why I'm talking to you about it," Shikamaru rolled his eyes, his well-known bored look on his face. "I know you want to protect Ino, especially after you learned a bit about what happened on the last mission like this. I do too. But as a chunin you should know that the mission is your top priority, not your friends. I'm sorry, Sakura, but that's the way it is."

"Can you please stop talking about me as if I wasn't here?!" Ino cut in, scowling slightly. "I don't need protecting! They just caught me off-guard last time, but they won't again." Flicking her hair out of her face, Ino turned to look up at Sakura, blinking with surprise when she realized something that she hadn't even noticed in the time that Sakura had spent at her apartment.

_She's grown taller than me. _Ino shook her head slightly before narrowing her eyes again. "Don't forget, Sakura, I was gone for a far less time than you. I'm sure even my injuries were a lot less worse, but I wouldn't know, since I only knew you were alive after you had been heal up," Ino said in that hushed tone of her's that showed that she was angry.

Sakura groaned, rubbed her forehead tiredly. She didn't want to fight with Ino now, not after how friendly they had been to each other back at the blonde's apartment. "Please, Ino, let's just go back to your place."

Shikamaru nodded slightly, agreeing with Sakura. "Yeah, Ino. You need some rest. Don't worry, I'll send Temari over once Tsunade's finished telling her what she told us."

Ino nodded gratefully to her teammate before spinning around and walking briskly towards her apartment with Sakura trying to keep up. She couldn't help but smirk when she felt that they had done this before, she had knew exactly why she felt that. Apparently, Sakura did as well.

"Huh. Why is it that whenever we go back to your apartment after talking to Tsunade you're always mad at me and I can't keep up with you?" Sakura asked, jogging again and attempting to walk as briskly as Ino was so that she wouldn't have to keep running to keep up with the blonde.

"You bring it on yourself. It's your own fault," Ino blamed the pinkette, fighting furiously to not smile even the slightest bit. "I need some sleep, like Shika said," She sighed, walking slightly faster in order to get to her apartment in a shorter time. They were already inside the actual building.

_And I already know I can't get away with sleeping on the couch with Sakura again. _Ino marched up the stairs, ignoring Sakura when the girl told her to ease up how fast she was walking. _A shame, too. It was comfy there._

"So...d'you want me to tell you when Temari's here?" Sakura asked, frowning when she had to stick her arm out to stop the door from slamming shut in her face. Slowly, she walked into Ino's apartment and took off her shoes, gazing around with confusion when she didn't see the blonde right away.

"Yeah, whatever," Ino grunted, making herself known in the living room. She was taking her hair out of it's ponytail when Sakura rounded the corner into the living room.

"Sleeping in your room?" Sakura asked, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Oh, don't you have to work or somethin', too?" She asked, recalling that she had planned on questioning Ino on her 'condition' when the girl was working at her family's flower shop.

"Mhm-hm," Ino hummed, walking quietly past Sakura in order to get to her room. "And no, I have no work now, since I've been assigned to a mission, even if it is in one week. My parents have always told me that even if a mission's a month away, I should get all the rest I can before then."

"I always did like your parents," Sakura smiled before following the blonde, though stopped once she reached the door. "Ino," She called, waiting patiently until the younger girl opened the door and looked curiously at her.

"Have a good sleep, 'kay? I'm going to look at your injuries when you wake up," Sakura said, looking sternly at Ino when the blonde opened her mouth to retort.

Sighing, the Yamanaka thought better of fighting with the pinkette at the moment. "Yeah, sure," She shrugged. Then, as a spur of the moment, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Sakura, squeezing slightly for a rather weak hug. At least, that's what Sakura felt that it was.

"No matter what I say tomorrow, I want you to know that I do appreciate your concern," Ino murmured, struggling to pull away, especially after Sakura hugged her back.

"I'll remember that. Good night, Ino," Sakura smiled and kissed the top of the blonde's head before pulling away from her and walking down the short hall, into the living room.

It took a few moments, but a slow, giddy smile eventually spread out over Ino's face. "Hahaaa..." She turned on her heel and disappeared into her room, expecting to get some rest, especially after that.

* * *

A knock on the door had Sakura jumping up from the couch and jogging towards the door to get it. Just as she had expected, a sandy blonde haired girl stood waiting outside Ino's apartment. However, Sakura hadn't expected the sand kunoichi to push right past her.

Temari grinned broadly and looked around expectantly for a moment or two, looking back at Sakura when she couldn't find Ino. "Where is she?" She asked, though it sounded more like a rude demand.

Sakura rolled her eyes and gestured to the blonde's room, knowing that Temari would catch on to the fact that Ino was sleeping. Perhaps she would be nice enough to give Ino a few more minutes of sleep.

"Ino! Get your ass out of bed!"

...Or not.

A tired grunt, a thud, and a few muttered curses later, Ino was stalking grumpily out of her room. Her features immediatly brightened considerably, though, when she saw Temari standing with the large grin from before plastered on her face.

"Temari! My lover!" The blonde greeted loudly, running forward. Temari only had just enough time to set her fan down before she was forced to catch the blonde, twirling her around because of the force that resulted in Ino jumping at her before setting the Yamanaka down on her own two feet.

"Ino! My bitch!" Temari greeted the younger girl in a similar way, ruffling the girl's already tangled hair.

Sakura frowned, pushing the pang of jealousy that she felt to the back of her mind at how close the two girls seemed. "Um...'lover'?" She echoed, raising an eyebrow with an expression that clearly stated that she wanted answers.

"Not really, obviously," Temari replied, rolling her eyes yet again at the pinkette. "So...I guess it _is _true that the missing Haruno returned from the enemy after, what, four years?"

"That's right," Ino nodded, her arms still wrapped around the taller girl so that she was hugging her side. "And she's living with me for now, so be nice!" She frowned sternly at Temari when the sand kunoichi rolled her eyes. "Temari..."

"Whatever." Shrugging, Temari turned and walked towards the kitchen, grinning with amusement when Ino simply walked and turned with her instead of letting go. "Hey Blondie, didn't you do this last time, too?" She asked.

Ino confirmed this with a nod before casting a glance back at Sakura, raising an eyebrow curiously when she noticed Sakura looked like she was glaring a hole through the back of Temari's head. Immediatly, she let go of the older girl and walked calmly over to Sakura.

"Forehead, I'll have you know we call each other things like that and act like that all the time," The blonde started, pushing back a laugh at the sound of Temari dropping something in the kitchen, apparently on her foot by the sounds of it.

"I gathered that much," Sakura muttered, still seeming annoyed. Instead of angering the shorter blonde, though, it only amused her.

"Lovely. Try to get along, okay? I don't want you two fighting over me like we did with Sasuke," Thinking quick, Ino winked and grinned before turning on her heel again and moving back to the kitchen, leaving a very much surprised and red-faced pinkette behind her.

"Wh-What?! Ino!" Sakura stammered, making an offended noise before jogging after the platinum blonde. "I still need to look at those injuries, you know!"

* * *

Ehh, I'm kinda not sure about this chapter. But you know me, I'm someone who always thinks they made a crappy chapter or rushed something. So yeah.

Yay Temari!

- Flower Cynic


	4. Chapter 4: No Matter What You Think

First, I'd like to say lovely job, **Pyrobee**, for practically hittin' the nail on the head with what Temari had to do with Ino!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

_How long had she been out for? It felt like forever. Her whole body ached, like she had been running for days on end. Her throat was incredibly dry, and her stomach alerted her to the fact that she hadn't eaten for a rather long time. Upon further inspection, she found that her clothes had been ripped in some places, since she could feel the cold air strongly on those parts of her body._

_Wait. She could feel the sharp bite of cold metal around her ankle and on her back._

_Groaning softly, she forced her eyes open, though barely, and regarded her prison silently. It was rather small, dirty, wet, and empty. It seemed just like the sort of cell back in Konoha that was designed to hold bandits that were going to be interrogated. Only this one seemed...colder, sort of like it had a more horrifying feel to it. Like things had happened inside of it that had Sakura both wondering what could have happened as well as not really wanting to know._

_"Finally awake, girlie?"_

_Sakura lifted her head just enough to see one of the two people standing guard over her peering through the bars to look at her, a cruel smirk on his face. She summoned up enough will power to glare at him for a few moments before tilting her head back down, staring at the metal _thing _around her ankle. Whatever it was, it was affecting her greatly._

_"Oi, Leaf ninja, 'bout time ya' woke up," The other guard grunted. "Don't bother tryin' ta escape. We got ya' fixed so's ya' won't be gatherin' no chakra."_

_Sakura closed her eyes. That's why she felt so weak and empty. Where was Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei? Surely they had been captured as well? She let another groan arise from her when she felt more dull aching, particularily in her back._

_"Wha-...What did you do...to me...?" Sakura struggled to speak, but managed to force those words out after a few moments of silent shaking. She grunted and moved away from the wall that she was leaning against, remaining like that for another few moments before turning herself around so that her back was facing the guards._

_The first guard laughed, throwing his head back. "I'd be more concerned for what we're _going_ to be doing to you," He told her, as if he was hoping to get some sort of horrified reaction from her._

_The pinkette opened her eyes a crack, just enough to see the disturbingly large red streak on the wall that she had been leaning against. She couldn't help but whimper, the knowledge that she had a wound big enough to make that mark on her back being a little too much to handle at one time._

_This only amused the first guard even more, since he laughed once again. "Hope you said your goodbyes to those other Leaf shinobi, girlie. Won't be seein' them again. Matter of fact, I'd be surprised if you saw any of your friends again!"_

_Sakura's eyes snapped open at that. What if she really never did see any of her friends again?_

_She'd never share another laugh with Naruto, or see her biggest crush, Sasuke, again. How would everyone take it when they realized she wasn't coming back? Tsunade, knowing her and how attached she had become to the pinkette over the few years she had trained Sakura, would probably send out search party after search party to find her. Kakashi-sensei would most-likely be on every team he could._

_Naruto...he was like a brother to her. This would take it's toll on him as well. Maybe even Sasuke would miss her, even the slightest bit. Then there was Lee. As much as he creeped her out most of the time, she considered him a rather good friend of her's._

_...Of course, there was Ino. When she thought of the blonde, Sakura couldn't help but remember how she had been avoiding her for the longest time. Had she done something wrong? Normally they were throwing insults at each other and competing constantly for Sasuke's attention. What had happened to that?_

_The pinkette knew that Ino wasn't the type of girl to just ignore a rival of sorts, especially when that rival is calling her names as attempts to get the blonde to even acknowledge her. That was what she had done, but it hadn't seemed to work. Now it was too late. She'd never see her childhood friend again. She wouldn't have a chance to find out what was wrong, or perhaps try to fix their broken friendship._

_She knew shinobi weren't supposed to cry, but she couldn't help it. Sakura ducked her head down and closed her eyes, biting her bottom lip to force back a broken sob._

* * *

Ino sighed boredly, a front for what she was really feeling. It was a rather bad thing to feel aroused at the moment, after all, especially when Sakura would be able to notice it as soon as she lost her forced bored look. It was all the pinkette's fault, though. Sakura was still looking over her injuries, touching her ribs and sensitive scar lightly. It didnt help that her shirt was laying on the ground, leaving her upper body covered only by a bra.

The sand kunoichi that had arrived earlier was sitting on a chair that was across from the couch that Ino was laying on, her right leg crossed over her left one and her arms crossed over her chest. She had an impatient yet bored look on her face, sighing what seemed like every ten seconds.

"So, Ino..." Sakura started, a bit uncomfortable with the silence. "When did you and Temari become such close friends?" She questioned, looking up at the blonde's face when Ino scoffed at how she had been acting around them ever since Temari and Ino displayed their friendship.

"On the last mission, if you must know," Ino answered, casting a glance at the now amused-looking expression Temari had on her face. "Girls tend to bond unintentionally when there's only two of them out of four people."

"Yeah, but...Didn't you have Shikamaru?" The pinkette asked, trying to hide her wince when she leaned forward too much. Unfortunately, both Ino and Temari noticed, causing the platinum blonde to sit up with alarm and the sand kunoichi to stand up and casually stroll over.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked before a look of realization crossed her face, followed by a stern expression. "Sakura, you've been obsessing over my injuries all day. What about you? I _thought_ you said they had all been healed?"

Sakura turned her head to look away from Ino, taking a seat on the couch beside the platinum blonde instead of continuing to kneel on the floor. "But I'm not the main concern here, Ino," She pointed out. Despite what she said, she did reluctantly turn around to let Ino lift up the back of her shirt.

"Holy shit, Sakura..." Ino mumbled, eyeing the large injury that ran along the pinkette's back. She reached out and touched it lightly, pulling away with alarm when Sakura winced in pain. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Sakura sighed and turned back to Ino, adjusting her shirt again. "Turns out the thing that made that thing on my back had some sort of healing-proof chakra on it or somethin', so it's gonna take a long time to heal. I'm surprised it's not bleeding at the moment." She shrugged and cast a glance at Temari, who was looking sternly at her as if she was about to scold her. And she was.

"Honestly, Haruno, I never would have guessed you to be the stubborn type who doesn't let anyone help. You should have that think wrapped up, at the very least. At least Ino's injuries aren't bleeding. Use your common sense, Pinky!" The sand kunoichi crossed her arms with displeasure, standing tall over the sitting Sakura, which only served to intimidate the pinkette.

Ino smiled gratefully at Temari, who caught it and returned it with a grin. "You have a way with words," She said before turning back to Sakura, a serious expression on her face once again. "But she's right, Sakura. You should at least bandage that up so that if it does start bleeding again, it should stop quicker, or so it won't go through your clothes."

The pinkette shrugged once again, uncomfortable with how they were suddenly talking about her. She never really liked being the center of attention. "I'll wrap it up later."

"I'm going to make sure of that," Ino said, a certain threatening tone added to her words that Sakura didn't fail to notice. "Anyway, we need something else to discuss. Sit, Tem! It always freaks me out when you keep standing over me!" She gestured to the chair that Temari had been sitting in before and continued to look at it until Temari finally grunted and moved back towards it.

Sakura shifted, uncomfortable with the silence that fell over the three girls. "We should go do something," She suggested. She really didn't want to stay cooped up in Ino's apartment on such a nice day, especially when the blonde that lived in the apartment was going to make sure that she took care of he wound on her back. _Honestly, I don't need to be fussed over like a child..._

Temari immediatly smirked and glanced at Ino, quietly waiting for Ino to get the idea that she knew the blonde was about to get. "Hm, going out and doing something. Maybe looking at things...with money...doesn't that give you any ideas, Ino?" She leaned forward slightly, clasping her hands together and setting them in her lap.

Ino's expression brightened considerably after a moment, a large grin lighting her face. "Shopping!"

* * *

"Oh my God, this is all your fault." Sakura groaned at how sore her feet were, trying to maintain a good pace that let her not lose sight of the excited blonde who was sprinting from one window to the next, trying to decide on what she wanted. The pinkette cast a grumpy glare to the sandy blonde haired girl walking beside her. Neither of the two kunoichi who were walking were carrying anything, yet Ino, who was carrying bags in both hands, was still running from one spot to the next.

"She would have gotten the idea sooner or later. I'd much rather not watch her try and think of something to do," Temari commented, waving her hand dismissively. She was fairing considerably better than Sakura was, since her feet had yet to become sore from all the walking they were doing. She did find it odd, though, how even though her and Sakura weren't carrying anything and Ino had shopping bags in both of her hands, the blonde was still running all over the place without seeming the least bit tired.

"I suppose," Sakura conceeded with a small nod, glancing away from Temari. When she didn't see the platinum blonde skipping quite a ways away from her, she paused. "Hey, where'd Ino go? She was right there a few seconds ago..." She muttered, a slightly worried look crossing her face, though it was quickly replaced by another scowl when Temari starting snickering.

"You aren't really the observant type, are you?" Temari teased the shorter girl, gesturing towards a long, bobbing ponytail of blonde hair making its way towards a shop across from where they were. Shaking her head with amusement, the sand kunoichi followed the eager blonde, casting a glance to her left when she saw the pinkette jog to her side.

"I didn't think she could be that fast is all," Sakura muttered, crossing her arms with a small frown. She carefuly watched Ino, intent on not letting the girl out of her sights, until the Yamanaka disappeared into the shop that she had been happily moving towards. "She has to run out of money soon..." She said hopefully, following Temari into the shop and immediatly clicking her teeth together with displeasure upon noticing that this particular shop was another clothes shop. These ones always took the longest.

"You two are so slow!" Ino cried out from behind a row of clothes, peeking through two shirts to smile at them. "Hey, why haven't you bought anything yet? We've seen so many awesome things!" She moved back towards the counter, where the shop owner was watching her, obviously amused, and set her bags down from the previous stores they had been to. "I'm just gonna keep these here, if ya' don't mind."

Sakura led the way towards the change rooms, standing a few feet in front of the one that Ino had disappeared into with Temari to her right. "She certainly loves to shop," She commented, wondering how she never noticed this before she had been gone for five years. It only made her feel worse when she reminded herself how Temari knew about Ino's love of shopping despite the fact that she didn't even live in Konoha.

"Yeah. Seeing her like this almost makes me forget how she actually is now," Temari sighed, letting a sad frown set on her face. Waving her hand in a sign that she wasn't going to talk any further about that particular subject when Sakura looked at her questioningly, Temari looked up from the ground and at the pinkette. "Go on, ask. I know you've been dieing to know one certain thing ever since you saw Ino and me."

Sakura blushed, embarrassed that she could be read so easily. "Okay, fine. Why are Ino and you so close? I've known her for a much longer time than you have and I've never had her hug me and practically cling onto me like that!" She gestured wildly in the air before stopping herself, realizing that she looked rather silly doing that.

The sandy blonde haired girl raised an eyebrow, smirking down at the pinkette. "You make it sound like you _want _her to cling to you," She pointed out, chuckling when Sakura simply went a brighter shade of red. "Anyway, the answer is...Well, I can't exactly tell you unless I have Ino's permission. I don't want to screw her life up more than I have," She smiled with amusement. Apparently that was some sort of inside joke between the two blondes.

Sakura sighed wih frustration and marched up to the change room door, banging on it rather loudly. She always did have a rather noticeable temper when she wanted to know something right that moment.

"Shit! Ease up, would ya'?!" Ino raised her voice out of surprise, opening the change room door enough for her to peek out and glare at Sakura. "What do you want? I'm in the middle of trying something on!" She muttered, aware that there were other people in the shop that could hear her if she continued to yell at that level.

"Temari needs your permission to tell me why you two are so close," Sakura huffed. "So give it to her and I'll leave you alone."

"Oh!" Ino laughed, glancing at Temari, then back at Sakura. "Is that all? Yeah, whatever. She really doesn't need it. But I'll advice you, Sakura. You definitely won't look at me the same way if you hear the truth," Ino said, taking on a dramatic tone before promptly shutting the door in the pinkette's face and locking it once again.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the blonde before turning and walking back towards Temari, who was smirking at her. "There's your permission. Now, answer the question," She demanded impatiently, only frowning when Temari shrugged indifferently.

"I'll show you when Ino comes back out of the change room...No, wait. I think it'd be a better idea to wait until we've gone back to the apartment. Don't want to attract any unwanted attention," Temari said, boredly examining her nails while trying to hide a sly smile at how Sakura pouted as soon as she had said that the pinkete would have to wait longer than she had planned.

"God, Ino, hurry up! It's not like you haven't bought a year's worth of clothes already!" Sakura called to the younger girl a few seconds before the change room door swung open, showing an exasperated Ino.

"You must not have told her, Tema, or else she wouldn't be this bitchy," Ino commented, flipping her hair as she walked past the two girls on her way to pick up her bags again, as well as pay for the outfits she had tried on. "Really, Sakura, you can act like such a spoiled brat sometimes."

"Agreed," Temari nodded before Sakura could say anything back at Ino. After a moment, Sakura shot a grateful glance at Temari, realizing that what she was going to say could have had a worse effect on Ino than she would have liked it to have. To this, Temari simply shrugged and followed Ino out the door, taking it upon herself to carry the clothing that Ino had bought from that store.

"Home?" Sakura asked hopefully, her expression changing to that of a sad puppy when she noticed Ino looking in her direction. She had used this 'technique' many times on Ino in the past, though all those times had been back when they were still the best of friends. Now it had been at least ten years since she had last used this weapon of her's.

Ino groaned, rolling her teal eyes once more to hide how she had swooned on the inside over how adorable Sakura was. "Fine," She sighed, changing direction so that she was walking back towards her apartment.

_Oh, she's so cute! And she even called my place 'home'! How sweet is that? Crap, I just hope I don't suffer too much for what Tema's gonna tell her...Hopefully she doesn't say anything too extreme or descriptive for my poor Sakura._

* * *

"Home again, home again!" Ino twirled once as soon as she reached the living room, grinning happily and collapsing onto the couch that she had forced Sakura to sleep on. "It was so worth spending the whole day shopping! I have so many new outfits that it's not even funny!" She scooted down to the edge of the couch, patting the seat beside her for the first person who got there to sit beside her.

Sakura finally got into the living room, sitting near the middle of the couch with an anxious look on her face. "Okay, we're home, in the privacy of this lovely apartment. Now tell me or show me or whatever you're going to do!"

Ino froze. _Oh God, 'show' her? _She glanced at Temari, who was making her way steadily over to the two nineteen year olds. _Temari, what are you thinking?! _She frowned and glared at Temari, who paused in front of her and smiled with amusement. "Telling her would be the best thing to do."

"Whatever," Temari shrugged and took a seat on the other side of Sakura, leaning against the back of the couch lazily. "Pinky, the thing is that Ino and I used to go out. We ended it on good terms, though," Temari closed her eyes, waiting for Sakura's reaction. She did feel sorry for Ino, having to wait anxiously for how the girl who used to be her former best friend would react to the news of her being a lesbian.

"So..." Sakura trailed off, looking with shock at Ino, then Temari, and back again. "Why? I mean, you two have nothing in common!" She frowned and gestured to Temari, seeming to react worse to the news that Ino had dated _Temari_, of all people, rather than the fact that the Yamanaka preferred girls.

Ino shrugged. "It kinda happened. I mean...we were on the mission and it was just so easy to talk to her...It was like we clicked really quickly, y'know?" She sighed at the fact that she was trying to explain herself to Sakura when she really had no need to do so. "The only other people there were Shika and Neji. Shika's a lazy bastard and is just so hard to talk personally with, and Neji...enough said."

Temari rolled her eyes at the youngest of the three girls, slowly leaning forward again. A slow smirk started to spread across her face, which Ino immediatly caught and glared sternly at her. Temari simply ignored her and looked at Sakura, an accusing look now on her face. "Yeah, that and the fact that you weren't there, if only to protect her. No, you had to go and get yourself caught. Just think for a moment. If you had escaped sooner, you could have asked Tsunade to put you on that mission, and maybe, just maybe, Ino wouldn't be like she is now."

"It wasn't my fault!" Sakura scowled at Temari, recognizing a guilt trip when she heard one. "Well, if you hadn't been slacking off or doing whatever the hell you were, you could have saved Ino before anything happened to her!" She gestured to the blonde, who sighed with irritation.

"Y'know, I'm right here, so you two can stop talking about me like I'm not." Ino rubbed her forehead tiredly, closing her eyes with a depressed expression. That look made Temari frown with regret, as she recognized that look. "Besides, it's my fault anyway. If I had just been stronger..."

"Oh, shut up," Temari snapped, glaring at Ino and ignoring the questioning look Sakura was giving her. "We've been through this already with Shika. You had no control over the situation," She looked sternly at Ino when the girl opened her mouth to retort, resisting the urge to smirk victoriously when Ino sighed and accepted defeat.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," Ino rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, glancing at the digital clock on the table she had by the TV. "Tema, you can sleep in my bed, it's alright with me," Ino told the sand kunoichi, blinking at the incredulous look on Sakura's face.

"What?! Ino, I've known you for a much longer time, yet I still have to sleep on this crappy couch?! Come on!" The pinkette questioned, feeling another pang of jealousy towards Temari like she had earlier, when Ino had practically tackled Temari after seeing the girl. How had Temari become better friends with Ino than she currently was? She had, after all, known Ino since before they were even genin!

"You aren't exactly my friend, Sakura," Ino's eyes suddenly went cold. _Does she think she can just break off our friendship like she did so long ago, then expect me to suddenly think of her as a friend? What's worse, she probably only wants to be my friend again so she won't have to sleep on this couch!_

Sakura actually flinched as if she had just been hit, a hurt look crossing her face. "Well, I always considered us friends, even if I never showed it..." She muttered sadly, looking down at the ground. She completely missed Ino's cold expression soften for a moment because of how miserable she looked.

"I don't care. The fact remains that you made no attempt to rebuild our ruined friendship until now, and even now it's only because you don't want to sleep on this couch," Ino flicked her hair out of her face, glancing at Temari when the sandy blonde haired girl stood with a look of amusement on her face.

"You two sound like an old bickering couple. I'm gonna go ahead and hit the sack. It's been a long day, and we still have a few more days until we leave with Shika and Neji. See you two tomorrow if one of you doesn't kill the other before then." Temari turned on her heel and moved towards Ino's room, disappearing behind the door after a quick wave over her shoulder.

Sakura shook her head slightly, acknowledging Temari's departure with a small wave of her hand. "Ino...This has been bugging me since...well, since before I was captured. Why were you avoiding me?" She asked, forcing herself to raise her head up again and look Ino in the eyes.

The blonde blinked, a shocked looked crossing her face before a reluctant, depressed one replaced it. "That's nothing to concern yourself over, Sakura."

"Well, I am anyway. You never answered my question."

"Haven't you ever tried to avoid someone before?" Ino narrowed her eyes slightly, wanting to get off this subject as quickly as possible. When Sakura nodded, Ino turned her head to stare at the wall. "People avoid others because they don't want to deal with them, in a sense."

"You didn't want to have to deal with me?" Sakura asked quietly after a short pause, since she had hesitated after deciding that she may not want to know the answer to that. If Ino didn't really want to deal with her, then she shouldn't be at the blonde's home. She'd have to ask Tsunade to get her a place to stay somewhere else, perhaps Naruto's house, since she knew him.

Ino shrugged. "In a sense," She repeated. "But in a way, I was avoiding you because I didn't want to have to deal with half of myself."

They stayed silent for a minute or so, with Ino looking anywhere but at the pinkette and Sakura trying hard to make eye contact with the younger girl. She finally managed to do that since Ino looked at her, startled, when she grasped her hand like she had when Ino had reacted badly to the fact that they were going on a continuation mission.

"Ino, I never want you to feel like you need to avoid me ever again," Sakura told the now slightly shorter girl, smiling gently at the unsure look on the platinum blonde's face. "You're still my best friend, no matter what you think. I'll protect you with my life on the mission when called for and stay by your side at all times..."

"I know, Sakura, but..." Ino glanced away, fighting back a blush she could feel trying to find her face at the contact between their hands. "Shika told me something similar to that before I was taken, so...forgive me if I can't exactly believe that."

Sakura sighed, letting Ino stand up, though she didn't fail to notice how reluctantly Ino did so. "Alright, I understand...You sure you don't want to sleep on the couch with me again, like last night?" She asked timidly.

Ino seemed to consider that offer in her head for a few moments, though shook her head slowly in the end. "No, I'm good. I don't want to end up clinging to you in my sleep like I did last time. Bad habit of mine," She laughed.

The pinkette smiled, this time worrying about how disappointed she felt when Ino declined her offer. The clinging comment wasn't exactly helping her, either, as it brought up memories of what Temari had said earlier that was along the same lines as that.

"Good night, Sakura," Ino muttered quietly, still standing in front of the older girl. For a moment, she considered giving Sakura a quick peck on her forehead (Ino had always loved Sakura's slightly larger than normal forehead), but quickly decided against it and settled for giving the girl a quick hug.

"Sweet dreams," Sakura sighed close to her ear, letting the blonde pull away after she had said that. The last thing Ino saw of Sakura before she had gone into her room was the pinkette lounging against the couch, not quite ready to go to sleep yet.

_Ino, why can't you get your act together? These feelings of your's, they aren't valid. They won't get you anywhere! If anything, Sakura will only hate you more if she ever finds out! Sure, she may have reacted okay to you being a lesbian, but liking her?! That's a completely different thing!_

Ino sighed and looked down at Temari, who had already passed out. The sandy blonde kunoichi was sprawled out across over half of the bed, though Ino still smiled. "It's your fault for ever trying to put Sakura through that guilt trip. You're such a bitch."

* * *

_Shikamaru slowly glanced beside him at Ino, who he was sitting with, their backs lightly pressed against a tree. She had her head tilted up slightly, looking up at the stars with a sad look on her face. It even made Shikamaru feel sympathy for her. At the moment, Neji was quickly scouting the area with his byakugan, if only to make sure nobody was going to sneak up on them at this moment while they had set up camp for the night, and Temari was warming herself by the fire she had finally managed to make._

_"If it makes you feel better," The Nara boy started slowly, trying to carefully pick his words, "Sakura was never actually seen dead. There's still a chance that she's alive and out there, waiting for the perfect chance to escape." He had never been the best person at comforting others, but he cared enough about Ino to not want the blonde to continue to look up longingly into the sky with such a miserable look on her face._

_"Shika, you heard what her team said," Ino murmured, letting her head fall to the side so that she could look at Shikamaru with a sad smile on her face. "There's hardly a chance at all that she's alive. It's been three years, four if you count the one that she was supposed to be gone for. Even Naruto, the guy who probably had the most faith in Sakura's abilities, thinks she's dead."_

_Shikamaru shrugged a shoulder and looked back up at the stars, where Ino had been looking before and had now returned to staring at. "So you don't think that Sakura's good enough to have survived?" He questioned, placed his hands palm-down on either side of him. "Is that it?"_

_"N-No, I never said that..." Ino stammered, looking surprised for a moment. "Why would you even think for a moment that I think that? Of course she's good enough to have survived!" She even sounded offended for the pinkette, having crossed her arms and scowled._

_Immediatly, Shikamaru smirked at Ino. "Then you think she's still alive if you think she's good enough," He pointed out, resulting in Ino blinking with shock for a moment before smiling gratefully at the taller shinobi._

_"Thanks, Shikamaru. I really needed that," Ino nodded her head slightly, giving the now embarrased boy a happy little hug. "Do you think this mission'll take long? I kinda want to get Lady Tsunade to send me and maybe two other people on another search party. Maybe we'll actually find her!"_

_"As troublesome as it may be, I'll go with you if you manage to do that," Shikamaru told his teammate, earning himself another hug. He only went a brighter shade of red when Temari shouted at them to get a room with a sly grin on her face._

_"We'll find her, Shika. I know it. Everyone may have lost hope, but not me. Well, not you either. And nobody's gonna make me think otherwise!" Ino pumped her fist into the air, believing that this mission would be as easy as every other one she had gone on like this. Get to their destination, ask around, pretend to be someone she wasn't, get more information, maybe spy a little, then return back to Konoha. Nothing else would ever happen that wasn't on that list of things, and that's now she liked to keep it._

* * *

Finally got over my writer's block, but I still don' like this chapter. I don't like any chapters though. I'm very picky with my own stuff, but everyone else seems to like them. I found that confusing and amusing at the same time.

Oh, and as I was writing this, I kept thinking about how I kept making Temari out to seem like a bitch. She is human, I'll have you all know! At some point or another she'll actually show a caring side, I just haven't decided when. Oh, and as I typed that other half thing that Ino said, I couldn't help but think about how sometimes one partner calls their lover their 'other half' or 'better half'. Of course, I somehow found this just the absolute best thing ever so I had to stop and grin for a minute or so.

...I really didn't like the flashbacks. Thought I'd throw that one out there.

- Flower Cynic


	5. Chapter 5: The Way There

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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* * *

_

Sakura watched unhappily as the glimpse of platinum blonde hair she had just caught sight of quickly disappeared before she could even speak to the kunoichi who was known to have that colour hair. Why was Ino doing this? Sure, she understood if Ino didn't feel the need to fight wih her at the moment, but this had been going on for...well, she wasn't quite sure how long, but it was longer than Ino would have needed to get over any arguing issues she may have.

_Quite fed up with how her former best friend was acting, Sakura moved to follow where the Yamanaka had disappeared to. She started jogging quietly after Ino, grabbing her wrist when Ino's arm swung back during her brisk walk. Determined, the pinkette forced the blonde to spin around and face her, but the frightened expression on the taller girl's face surprised her enough for her grip on Ino's wrist to loosen, thus allowing Ino to yank her arm free._

_"Get away from me," Ino mumbled, looking down before walking farther away from Sakura. What was her problem? She only wanted to talk to her former best friend. Honestly, she had been expecting an insult to be thrown her way, followed by a scowl, when she had grabbed Ino's wrist. Apparently that wasn't the case, though._

_She was about to follow Ino once again, but a familiar blonde boy stopped her by calling out her name. Sakura only continued to watch Ino, who seemed to pause for a moment at the pinkette's name being called, but started up her brisk walk again. "What is it, Naruto...?" She asked, unable to keep the bothered tone out of her voice._

_Naruto stayed silent for a few moments, just looking worriedly at his friend, before shaking his head and clearing his throat. "We have to go on a mission now. Granny said it would take about a year if we didn't try to rush things..." He told her, unaware that Sakura was still staring after Ino._

_"A year...?" Sakura slowly looked away from the retreating form of Ino to look carefully at Naruto. "That's long...but alright. I'll go and get ready..." She murmured, walking right past Naruto. She didn't know if she could stand being a year away from Konoha, let alone the people inside of it. On that thought, the pinkette cast a glance towards where Ino had been moments before, but had evidently rounded a corner._

_With a sigh, Sakura walked towards her house. _I am going to find Ino as soon as I get back. This whole 'avoiding me' thing needs to be ended.

* * *

Days had passed by, and Sakura was steadily growing more and more frustrated with Temari, and perhaps even herself as well. Yesterday, Temari and Ino had actually fought over the fact that Ino was hardly eating anymore, thus starving herself. The only reason she hadn't jumped into the fight was because she didn't want Ino to suddenly turn on her like she was bound to. The two girls had left in a huff after a good ten minutes of going back and forth with each other.

What had really gotten to Sakura was the fact that they had made up only half an hour later. How was Temari able to get Ino to forgive her so quickly when she couldn't do so herself? Why did Ino forgive Temari much sooner than she would to her? This was what was making her so annoyed, which was also the reason that she was scowling at the wall she was facing.

The pinkette was the first one up in the morning. The things she was bringing with her (they were really only supplies that she was bound to have to share with her teammates) were resting in a bag by her feet. She had packed as light as she could, since she didn't want to be weighed down by anything that she didn't need.

Sakura closed her eyes and fell against the back of the couch, tilting her head up slightly with a sigh. From the order that they (herself, Ino, and Temari) woke up every other day of that week, she assumed that Temari would be the next up, followed by a very grumpy Ino. Ino was always grumpy in the morning, since she never woke up herself. She was always woken up by either Sakura, Temari, or her alarm clock. Sometimes by Tsunade or Shikamaru, on certain occasions. She turned her head and opened her eyes a bit to look at the entrance to the living room. If either of the blondes in the apartment woke up, they'd be entering through that.

_Maybe I shouldn't have broken off mine and Ino's friendship...Sasuke's more like a brother to me now, like Naruto or Lee. Only he's more of a big brother while they're like little brothers._ Sakura sighed sadly, remembering how close they had been when they were children. _Maybe we could have been close, or even closer, than she and Temari are now...I mean, just without the kissing._

Now red in the face, Sakura scowled bitterly when she remembered the day before the fight. She hadn't yet decided if that day had been worse than when Temari and Ino had made up so quickly or not. What had happened was Temari had been going out to get some supplies for herself, but before she had gone she had walked over to Ino, leaned down, and given the girl a peck on the lips.

_And Ino let her! I know they used to be dating, but they aren't anymore, so that shouldn't be allowed! And she did it in front of me! _Sakura paused in her rant when she noticed a very broadly grinning Temari enter the living room, humming to herself. Another thing she had noticed during the time she had spent with Temari was that the sand kunoichi was a morning person. Hell, she was the very _definition_ of a morning person.

"Morning!" Temari greeted before disappearing into the kitchen, still humming quietly to herself. It was almost disturbing how happy she seemed in the morning. Maybe she was just that way after a good sleep.

Sakura frowned, following Temari into the kitchen so that she could continue to watch her with that suspicious look on her face. _Her and Ino have nothing in common. I mean, one's a cheerful morning person and the other will kill anyone who so much as looks at her funny if she's up at this time!_ The pinkette scowled, not letting up even when Temari turned her head to look at her with amusement.

"Y'know, you can stop being all paranoid and following me around everywhere in the apartment," Temari told her casually, going back to making coffee for Ino, who would be getting up soon. _Should_ be getting up soon. "It's not like I'm gonna set this place on fire or anything. In total, I've probably spent more time than you have here. So technically, I should be the one following you around."

The pinkette fought back the redness in her face from realizing that Temari had known that Sakura had hardly let her out of her sights when they were in Ino's apartment. "It's not that. I doubt you'd set this building on fire. They'd never let you back into Konoha."

"Oh, I see now," Temari's lips twisted up into a sly smirk. "You don't trust me with Ino. Shit, Pinky, I did date her for a while. I think you can trust me with her." The sand kunoichi stayed silent for a few moments, just watching the coffee maker, before turning to completely face Sakura. "Quite frankly, _I_ don't trust _you_ with her," She informed the pinkette, a dead-serious look on her face.

"Oh? And why is that?" Sakura asked, feeling irritated that Temari had brught up the whole "dating Ino" thing as well as because she had just said that Sakura wasn't to be trusted with Ino. Well, something along those lines.

"She's hardly friendly with you at all. You two get into fights, then glare at each other for at least the rest of the day. I'm sure you noticed how fast she forgave me yesterday. It takes technique, some knowledge on Miss Yamanaka Ino, and a special bond with her. You, apparently, don't have any of those. You didn't even know about Ino's love for shopping and spending all her money on shit that she's hardly going to use," Temari smiled with amusement at the memory of Ino shopping the other day before turning serious again. "She even said that you aren't her friend. Why are you here?"

"Tsunade told me to stay here," Sakura replied as evenly as she could, glaring at Temari. Sure, she may not have this "technique", and sure, she may not have some of the more recent knowledge on Ino, but was she really lacking a special bond with her? Of course she was. She had broken that bond when she had told the blonde that they were to be rivals from that point on.

"Yet you could have simply stayed with the Uzumaki boy. Aren't you two teammates? If you had stayed with him, you wouldn't have to go on this mission. You wouldn't be talking to me right now, which I know you don't want to do, and you wouldn't know a thing about Ino and how unhealthy she's becoming. You wouldn't have to worry about anything but getting the Uzumaki boy to stop fretting over you," Temari boredly examined her nails, ignoring the cold stare that Sakura was giving her.

"Yes, we are," The pinkette confirmed with a slight nod. She sighed, her scowl disappearing to be replaced by a sad expression. "I _want_ to go on this mission. I want to be there for Ino. I may not know exactly what happened on the last mission, but I intend to find out. Plus, if I had learned about Ino's...'condition' a long time after I had returned, I'd feel even more shitty than I do now, since I'd have gone that long with noticing a change in her."

Temari slowly looked up from her nails to eye Sakura with a small frown, her eyes narrowed in an almost suspicious way. "Well, you aren't doing a god job of getting your friend back," She remarked, unable to hold back a grin when Sakura huffed with annoyance.

"I'm trying! She's just so stubborn..." The Haruno murmured, running her fingers through her hair in order to calm her frustration. The new scowl on her face that had appeared after Temari's remark was replaced by an amused expresion at the sudden sound of deafening ringing. Of course, it wasn't quite as deafening for her and Temari, since the sound of Ino's alarm clock was muffled by the walls and doors that happened to get in the way.

A muffled curse and the sound of someone hitting a table of some sort had both Sakura and Temari smiling, especially when Ino only managed to hit the button to turn it off on the fourth try. "Ino's awake," Temari chimed happily in a sing-song voice, tapping the top of the coffee maker. "Just in time, too!"

Sure enough, the platinum blonde walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, looking like she was half-dead. When Temari greeted her with a grin, her response was the grumble and scowl, practically collapsing against the kitchen counter by the coffee maker.

"Fuckin' hell...Where are those damn mugs...?" Ino narrowed her eyes dangerously when she heard a small giggle, watching Sakura out of the corner of her eye. "Fuck off, 'less you wanna hurt for the next week," She threatened, snatching the coffee-filled mug from Temari and hurriedly swallowing a mouthful.

"Gah! Fuckin' damn it!" Ino cried out, nearly dropping her coffee before she remembered that she still had a free hand to cover her mouth with. She let out another series of muffled curses, having apparently burned her mouth, before setting her drink on the counter and retreating to the living room, where she fell on her back on the couch.

"Inooo," Temari grinned with amusement, following the platinum blonde from the kitchen to the living room. "We hafta go meet up with Shika and Neji in an hour and a half! I doubt you'd want to to waste away on the couch when you have stuff to do!"

Ino grumbled into the couch for a moment or two before literally rolling off of it, now just laying on the ground with a scowl on her face and her eyes closed. "You're so creepy in mornin' mode," She said, talking in a slurred sort of way to avoid causing needless pain in her mouth.

Sakura forcefully hauled Ino up to her feet, looking sternly at the long haired girl. "Go shower before you waste any more time," She instructed, pointing towards Ino's room. She remained in that position until Ino finally grunted and dragged her feet down the hall and into her room.

* * *

Shikamaru stuffed his hands into his pockets, finding that the silence between him and the Hyuga was rather odd. He was always used to being around an extremely loud or talkative person, but that didn't seem to be the case this time. Not that he was complaining, it was just an unexpected change. Even on the last mission he had gone on with Neji, he had never been alone with him (well, he had a few times, but he had always had something to say), so it had been different. But now...he felt a bit awkward.

The lazy Nara glanced around, almost desperate to see some sign that at least one of the three girls coming with him and Neji on the mission was coming. Though he'd never admit it out loud, he preferred Ino's constant talking and gossiping to the silence that hung over himself and Neji. _C'mon, Temari, don't let Ino sleep in._

Anxiously, Shikamaru pulled a hand back out of his pocket and scratched his stomach, straightening up as much as he ever would when he saw three familiar girls. One was practically skipping, one was hunched forward with a scowl on her face and looked almost half dead, and the last one had her arms crossed over her chest like something had just annoyed her greatly.

_Temari, Ino, and Sakura. Finally._ Shikamaru waved them over, drawing the attention of the twenty year old shinobi behind him, who turned to look at who he was waving to. "Finally. It was getting to be a bore around here," The younger boy muttered before raising his voice to speak to Ino in particular. "Didn't have enough time for your morning manicure or somethin'?"

Ino sneered at him, rolling her eyes without stopping to talk to her former teammate. "Funny. Let's just go see Tsunade and get this show on the road..." She muttered, swinging her bag over her shoulder that was filled with supplies.

"She woke up on the bitchy side of the bed," Sakura explained, nodding a greeting to Shikamaru and Neji before following the grumpy platinum blonde ahead of her with Temari right behind her.

"I noticed," Shikamaru muttered, putting his hand back into his pocket. He had learned to cope with Ino when she was grumpy starting from when they had been Team Ten. Sure, the blonde may have tempermental and patience problems when she was grumpy, but he had experienced that side of her enough times to know what _not_ to say to her.

Neji frowned and moved to walk on the side of Shikamaru that Temari wasn't on, staring blankly ahead of him. "Are we simply doing on this mission what we did on the other?" He inquired monotonously, glancing around at the buildings that surrounded them. There was hardly anyone even out at this time.

"I think so. We still need to stop those bandits from slaughtering those people," Temari frowned thoughtfully, glancing at the hunched forward form of Ino walking quite a ways ahead of her. "We'll do better this time."

Shikamaru followed Temari's gaze to find that the kunoichi was looking at Ino. He frowned sadly. "We have Sakura this time, too. They used to be best friends, you know."

"I do know. I used to go out with Ino, remember?" Temari blinked slowly, looking up at the Hokage residence. She wasn't looking forward to this mission. "They don't exactly like each other at the moment. Well, they aren't on good terms right now, anyway."

Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk knowingly. _Ino doesn't completely dislike Sakura, even if she tries to._ He walked quicker to get through the door before it closed, making Temari pause to open the door back up. He smirked over his shoulder at Temari, who just calmly mouthed 'fuck off' to him.

"Shizune," Sakura smiled at the brunette woman, nodding her head slightly to her. "We're here to see Tsunade. She's awake, right?" She asked, casting a glance towards where Tsunade normally was.

"Of course. She's a bit hung over, though," Shizune sighed unhappily, gesturing towards the door to let the five shinobi know that they could go inside. "Be careful," She muttered under her breath to Sakura as the pinkette passed her, shutting the door after all five people were inside.

The Fifth had her face against her desk, groaning every few seconds. Even when Temari cleared her throat, she didn't raise her head until ten seconds later. A scowl adorned her face, and her eye twitched as soon as she noticed Ino as she always was in the morning. It seemed like they were in a glaring contest until Ino looked away with a huff, making Tsunade smirk victoriously.

"We're ready to go. We just wanted to check out with you before we left," Shikamaru said, his tone showing his authority over the group. Tsunade nodded, casting a grumpy glare over each person in turn before closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair.

"Very well. You may go. Remember to send updates when you can," The Fifth instructed, ignoring how Sakura fidgetted at the mention of sending some sort of message back to Konoha. The reason for that being the fact that the pinkette remembered how Ino had yelled at her for not sending some kind of message to Tsunade to inform her that she was still alive.

"We will. I can assure you that no teammate will be lost this time," Shikamaru said confidently before bowing his head quickly to the Hokage, leading the other four shinobi out of the room. After a quick farewell to Shizune, they left the building as well.

Sakura turned her head to look curiously at Ino, making sure to keep up with everyone else. "Hey, don't you need to go say bye to your parents and Chouji and anyone else?" She asked. Since she knew that Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be up at this time, she had actually left Naruto a message on his phone a few minutes after she had woken up, telling him that she'd be back as soon as she could and to say good bye to Sasuke for her.

"Already did yesterday," Ino mumbled, stumbling slightly because she had started to nod off while walking. Sakura moved to catch her, but Ino regained her footing before she had a chance to. "Forehead, you don't need to concern yourself over me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"I just didn't figure that you'd be able to stop yourself from falling," Sakura frowned and looked forward, glaring subconsciously at the back of Temari's head. Ino apparently noticed this and smacked Sakura's temple, scowling at the pinkette when Sakura turned her head to yell at her.

"What was that for?!" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes while rubbing the side of her head. Before Ino had a chance to answer, Shikamaru turned to look over his shoulder, looking sternly at them.

"Hey, you two. Quit fighting already." The brunette boy muttered before looking back to the path ahead of them. He could already see the gates leading to the forest, outside of Konoha. _Finally. At least I won't hear their fighting as much in the trees..._ He sighed out loud, turning his mouth up slightly.

Temari grinned broadly and shoved her bag full of supplies into Shikamaru's chest forcing the boy to grab it out of surprise. "Hold that," She instructed before looking back at Ino. "C'mon, Blondie. Nobody needs to hear you complaining or have you falling asleep and falling out of a tree, right?"

Ino brightened up slightly and tossed Shikamaru her own supplies, smirking slightly with amusement when Shikamaru stumbled back because of the force that it hit his chest. The blonde jogged closer to the older kunoichi, standing in front of her. She hardly gasped when Temari swiftly scooped her up in her arms, having gotten used to it.

Blinking thoughtfully, Ino cast a subtle glance over Temari's shoulder towards Sakura. The pinkette was glaring hard at Temari now. It was worse than before. Ino couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth at the fact that Sakura seemed rather protective of her.

"Shit, Ino. Do you have any muscle or anything? I'm almost expecting the wind to blow you away," Temari commented with distaste, reminding Ino of the fight that they had had the other day. "Still, at least there's hardly any pressure on my arms."

"You're thinking about a feather. I'm as far away from a feather as-" Ino stopped when she caught sight of pink hair out of the corner of her eye. She craned her head back so that the front of her neck was exposed, looking at an upside down Sakura, who was now walking beside her head. Well, she was upside down to her.

"Don't continue that sentence," Sakura ordered, dimly aware that they had just left Konoha. "Ino, everyone's worried about you. You're going to end up killing yourself slowly if this keeps up. In fact, you probably are already."

Temari pursed her lips when Ino looked inquiringly at her, silently asking if everyone really was worried about her. She sighed quietly before forcing an exasperated look on her face, glancing at the pinkette. "Listen here, Pinky. She can take care of herself without some control freak making a big deal out of everything she does!"

Sakura looked disbelievingly at Temari, her eyes wide, before a knowing look crossed her face. "Acting tough, huh?" She scowled and looked back down at Ino. "I don't care what you think. On this mission-" Then they were gone. After a quick look around, she realized that Neji and Shikamaru were also gone. However, when she looked up she realized that they had jumped up into the trees, already starting to jump from branch to branch.

"Just ignore me, that's perfectly fine..." She grumbled before following after them.

* * *

_Ino frowned, a blank look on her face. That look had stayed on her face since before they had arrived at their destination. Shikamaru had ordered her to slow down instead of trying to keep up a fast pace. He had said that otherwise, she'd use up all of her energy and tire herself out before they even got to the village. Angry, Ino had no choice but to listen to him when he used his position as squad leader to get her to slow down with the rest of them. Even now, she was still cross with the Nara, and he knew it._

_"Finally here. We'll set up camp outside of the village later. Right now we worry about..." Shikamaru trailed off and glanced at Temari, who was looking back at him with a knowing look on her face. "Um...Ino, did Tsunade tell you how she wanted this to be done?" He asked, a light blush on his face. He wasn't entirely comfortable with explaining how this was to be done with the blonde._

_Ino slowly looked at Shikamaru, sighing. "Yeah, I heard." She raised an eyebrow at her friend, crossing her arms defensively. "Are you implying that I can't handle it?" She questioned heatedly, paying no attention to the fact that people were glancing at the four shinobi that seemed to have just appeared out of no where. They certainly didn't look like they came from there._

_"I didn't say that," Shikamaru turned his mouth up slightly at the fact that Ino tended to jump to conclusions too quickly. "It's just...the condition you're in isn't the best one to be in at this time..." He shoved his hands in his pockets, taking on a disinterested look. He was talking about how she was still even the slightest been distressed over the whole Sakura issue. "I'm not gonna stop you and I'm not gonna force you. We still have Temari, after all."_

_"Are ya' too chicken, Blondie?" Temari taunted, earning a huff from the blonde beside her. "Yeah, I know," She looked pointedly at Shikamaru. "Her 'condition' is beside the point. A kunoichi's health, mental or physical, will never interfere with a mission," She stated confidently, shoving Shikamaru's shoulder to make the boy stumble a step back. "Don't you dare say otherwise."_

_Ino grinned slowly. "Yeah, Shika. How dare you think that I can't do this mission." Reaching behind her and letting her hair loose from its ponytail, Ino examined her clothes quickly. "Ew, I need to change. These things are so dirty," She muttered._

_Temari smirked and draped an arm over Ino's shoulders. "Then come on. Let's go find some clothes that are more..._appropriate_ for this mission," She led Ino away from Neji and Shikamaru._

_Neji calmly watched as the two blondes walked away from them, blinking slowly before turning and walking silently out of the village._

_"Hey, where are you going?" Shikamaru asked, a confused expression on his face._

_"Setting up camp. I refuse to carry this _weapon_ around any longer," Neji nodded towards the fan in his hand with an irritated look. The only reason he had actually carried this weapon the rest of the way to the village was because Temari had tossed it to him and left quickly, leaving him no choice but to catch it to avoid being hit by it._

_Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, might as well. I really don't want to be around Ino again while she's shopping..."_

* * *

Sakura rubbed her forehead tiredly, stopping on the next branch she landed on in order to sit down. She could hear Ino, surprised, telling Temari to stop and turn around to check on her, which brought a quick smile to her face. At least Ino still cared about her, despite the fact that it was so easy for them to start fighting with each other. Still, she wished that Ino actually considered them to be friends.

"Tired already, Pinky?" Temari teased, having turned back and jumped to the branch that Sakura had stopped on. Ino looked worriedly at the pinkette, squirming slightly to silently tell Temari to put her down. The sand kunoichi immediatly did so, allowing Ino to jog up to Sakura and bend down to her eye level, since Sakura was crouched down.

"Hey, do you want to take a break? We've been constantly moving since we left, so I don't blame you," Ino asked, feeling a bit embarrassed because she hadn't needed to use her legs at all. Temari had decided to carry her the entire way.

Sakura smiled slightly more. Ino didn't seem to be grumpy anymore, which was good. "Yeah, I'd like that," She cleared her throat, making a face at how dry it was. "I'm sure we could all use a drink."

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Ino called loudly, not noticing that Sakura winced when she yelled for the former member of Team Ten. "We're takin' a break," She told Shikamaru as soon as the lazy shinobi had stopped on the same branch that they were on. Shikamaru looked ready to protest, but after an angry glare from Ino, he stopped himself.

"Troublesome woman..." Shikamaru muttered under his breath, jumping down from the tree after Temari and landing quietly on the ground. Neji wordlessly handed Temari her fan, his eyes narrowed slightly when Temari simply shrugged without thanking him for carrying it.

Sakura slowly stood back up, her legs shaking slightly from overworking them, and quickly leapt after Ino, landing ungracefully on the ground. She had landed on her feet, but they gave way from under her and she ended up on her backside.

"You're so clumsy," Ino commented, looking down with amusement at Sakura, who felt a small surge of happiness at that memory. She remembered how they had been friends the last time Ino had told her that she was clumsy. Shaking her head slightly, Sakura rose to her feet and moved towards a nearby tree, deciding that she'd sit by it so she'd have something to lean against.

_Maybe have something to eat...I have to make sure that Ino eats something..._ Sakura turned her head slightly, prepared to invite Ino to sit with her, but paused when the Yamanaka wasn't behind her anymore. After a few glances around, she realized that the blonde was now standing in front of Temari, though she had no clue what the two were talking about.

_I guess Temari'll have an easier time convincing Ino to have something..._ Sakura thought sadly, slowly making her way over to the tree again, but stopped after only a second. Her eyes were narrowed and her mouth was set in a small frown. _No. She's as much my friend as she is Temari's. I'm going to get her back._ She thought with a determined expression, remembering how Temari had told her that she wasn't doing a very good job of getting her friend back.

"Hey Ino!" Sakura called to the blonde, turning around with a smile. "Come sit with me! Please?" She requested, gesturing to the tree that she was now standing in front of. She couldn't help the elated feeling she got when Ino, though with a confused look, dismissed herself from Temari's company and slowly walked towards the pinkette.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Sakura?" The blonde asked, raising a hand and pressing the palm of it to Sakura's forehead. _I think I'm gonna have a fit if Sakura really is sick..._ She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, trying to hold back a giddy little smile at the fact that Sakura actually invited her to sit with her. Even if it was just a friendly invitation, it made her happy anyway. But she couldn't let her childhood friend know that.

"I'm _fine_, Ino," Sakura insisted, gently pushing Ino's hand away from her. She stayed silent for a few moments, still not entirely comfortable with the fact that she had grown taller than Ino, who she had known to be taller than her, even the slightest bit, since she had first known her. Now it completely threw her off whenever Ino was standing right by her, since she had to look down at the Yamanaka now. "So, let's sit."

Ino nodded absently, sitting down after the pinkette had done so first. "I mean, you didn't overwork yourself too hard, did you? Your legs aren't gonna be sore or anything? If you want, I can get Tema to carry you...She's pretty strong. Stronger than me, anyway."

Amused by Ino's constant concern, Sakura shook her head and leaned forward slightly, rubbing her legs carefully and in certain spots. "I'll be fine. I'm a medic nin, remember?" She chuckled at the blush on Ino's face, the blonde having obviously forgotten that little detail about the Haruno. "I appreaciate your concern, though."

Ino stared down at her hands, not sure what to say now. "Look, Sakura...I'm sorry for how I've been treating you...I guess I've been unrightfully hostile towards you..."

"Is it because you were trying to avoid me?" Sakura questioned, recalling how Ino had told her that she had, _in a sense_, been avoiding her so that she wouldn't have to deal with her. "Ino, what were you really trying to avoid me for?" She asked, digging around in her bag of supplies for something to snack on.

"I already told you," Ino muttered in a defensive tone. "I didn't want to have to deal with half of me." She looked curiously at Sakura's bag, narrowing her eyes when the pinkette pulled out an orange. "Are you serious? You brought an _orange_, of all things?"

"It's healthy and tastes good," Sakura told her, peeling the skin off of the fruit. "How does avoiding me prevent you from dealing with some part of _you_?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at Ino's logic. "It just doesn't make sense."

Ino shrugged, trying to look indifferent. "To you it doesn't." She said, purposely being vague. Blinking slowly, she watched as Sakura set the skin down by her bag and started separating the pieces of orange from each other, popping one into her mouth. "I never took you for a fruit person."

"Have a piece," Sakura said, holding one out to Ino, who shook her head and politely pushed Sakura's hand back towards the pinkette. "Ino, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. Eat the damn piece of fruit."

"Will you stop asking about the whole 'avoiding you' thing if I do?"

"Sure, whatever."

Ino smiled and plucked the orange fruit out of Sakura's hands, sighing once before popping it into her mouth. However, when she bit into it, juice started leaking from the corners of her mouth and down her chin. "Ah, that's juicy!" Ino cried out with surprise, hastily wiping her chin with the back of her hand.

Sakura laughed, smirking slyly to herself when she realized that she could make a game out of this. "Oh yeah?" She held the third piece of orange between her teeth, waiting for Ino to look curiously at her before biting into it, spraying juice onto the blonde's face.

"Forehead...!" Ino shut her eyes and flinched, wiping off her face before reopening her eyes to glare playfully at the grinning pinkette. Not noticing the fact that Neji, Shikamaru, and Temari were all looking at them with exasperated expressions, she grabbed the fourth piece and copied what Sakura had just done a few seconds ago. She ended up spraying orange juice onto the side of Sakura's face, though, since she had turned her head.

"I hope Sakura can keep Ino like this the whole way through the mission," Shikamaru commented, watching with faint amusement as the two went back and forth with the fruit juice until the orange was gone. He turned his head to look at Temari, who was shaking her head and laughing lightly. "What do you think happened to Sakura on the mission she had with her team, anyway?"

Temari shrugged, calming herself down. "Who knows?"

* * *

Wow, how long has it been since I updated _this_? Far too long. Anyway, the flashback with Ino was something I made up on the spot, since I didn't want to use the one I was thinking of until the next chapter. The one with Sakura happened _before_ the one in the fourth chapter, just so you know. Yeah, a few flashbacks may jump back and forth, so it may get confusing for a bit.

Now, of course, I'm gonna return an unexpected favor. If you're ever looking for something to read, take a look at **Blossoming of a Leaf**, the sequeal to **Promise of a Leaf**. Both are by **Krokador**, and I encourage you to read both of them. They're wonderful, well-written InoSaku stories!

- Flower Cynic


	6. Chapter 6: Synonyms For 'Prostitute'

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

_"Why are you doing this to me?!"_

_"Just give up! You aren't going to win!"_

_Sakura glared defiantly up at the redhead, struggling weakly against the apparent chakra-blocking bonds that held her against the fall. At least she had her feet flat on the ground (even if they were being held to the wall by her ankles) so that she wasn't hanging painfully from her hands. Still, the pain would have just mixed with what she was feeling now. She had no large wounds besides the steadily numbing one on her back, just small holes in her skin from where needles had been. Damned pressure points and such._

_The redhead scowled back at Sakura, waving to a blonde on the other side of the room. "Karite!" She growled heatedly, gesturing for her partner to stand beside her, which the blonde did. "This first day has brought no progress at all. I'm disappointed." She flicked her hair out of her face, drumming her fingernails on her right hand against her left arm._

_Karite's lips twisted up into a sly smirk. She tapped the bottom of her unusual weapon against the ground, the resulting sound echoing throughout the dark room. "So I've noticed. This one's fiesty, hm?" She drawled, her eyes sweeping leisurely over Sakura's body._

_The pinkette wriggled around, trying to hide herself from the blonde. It was bad enough that her clothes were barely on her body anymore. "Leave me alone!" She eyed the blonde's unusual weapon. It looked like a long, black metal pole (it was taller than Karite herself) with a sharp, grey blade that curved down on the top. It apparently wasn't that heavy if Karite could easily carry it around._

_"I take it back, Tantou. She's a bit more bossy than I like. D'you think anyone's gonna come for her?" Karite asked, raising her weapon and carefully pressing the tip of the blade again Sakura's arm so that, if the pinkette were to move that arm, it would cut into her._

_"I don't need your fuckin' scythe to do my job," Tantou snapped at her partner, causing Karite to pull back and eye her with surprise. "I suppose they would. But if they know what's good for them and for her," She gestured to Sakura, "they won't do anything that could endanger the plan."_

_Sakura couldn't help her curiosity and suspicion. "What plan?" She asked, not letting the relieved look on her face last long after the redhead made the tall blonde pull her scythe away. She frowned, feeling slightly disturbed when this Tantou girl suddenly grinned, a completely different expression on her face than the scowl she had been wearing just a few moments earlier._

_"You'd want you to know, wouldn't you?" The redhead looked sharply at Karite when the blonde scoffed, giving her a harsh glare. "It doesn't concern you. Just be happy that your annoying village is as big as it is." She pressed something that was near her ear, closing her eyes for a moment. "What?"_

_Sakura frowned. She knew that this moody woman meant that they wouldn't really harm Konoha as a whole because of its size. While she was thankful for that, it could always have a double meaning. What if they picked off the people in it one by one? Or worse, what if those people were her friends?_

_"Damn it. Karite, we have to pick up where Team Lambda left off. They've run into trouble at that Kawa Village and we need to go save their asses." The redhead touched the thing on her ear again, eyes narrowed angrily. "We'll leave right away," She grumbled before lowering her hand again, casting a glance up at Sakura. "Try not to have too much fun while we're away, okay? Guards!" She suddenly raised her voice, making both Karite and Sakura wince from the way the room made it echo._

_The two men that Sakura recognized as the ones that watched over her when she was in imprisoned in a cell filed into the room. "Yes ma'am?" The first said, raising his hand to his forehead in a sort of mock salute._

_Obviously not appreciating the gesture, Tantou scowled and gestured to Sakura. "Bring her back to her cell," She ordered before grabbing Karite's elbow and dragging her towards the exit. "We have to go before those morons get themselves killed."_

_"Seeya later, sweetie!" Karite called over her shoulder before disappearing behind the door that Tantou had just opened up._

_Sakura clicked her teeth together in pain when the guards undid her bonds, letting her fall ungracefully to the ground before forcing her back up to her feet and shoving her towards the exit. These people were apparently attacking some poor village. How many others had they assaulted?_

_"C'mon, girly, quit yer daydreamin' and get ta' movin'." The second guard ordered gruffly, nudging her rather hard in the direction that she was supposed to be walking in._

_The pinkette stumbled slightly, but regained her footing before she actually fell. Her eyes narrowed angrily, though she didn't turn to actually glare at the guards. If they were aiming to break her, the only thing they were sure to get was disappointment._

* * *

"We're...almost...there..." Temari groaned and slowed down, stopping on the branch that she had just landed on. The only reason she was tired before everyone else was because she had been carrying Ino, which had used up more of her energy than just letting the blonde travel herself would have, and had only recently let the Yamanaka move on her own again. That was why Ino understood that Temari needed a break, even if it was just a small one.

"Shika, Neji, Sakura, wait for Temari!" Ino called, stopping beside her sandy blonde haired friend with a warm smile. "Hey, are you okay? Take however long you want to rest up. I mean, you've been carrying _me_, of all people, probably for most of the time that we've been moving." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly before turning and sitting down beside Temari.

"Stop talking about yourself like that," Temari ordered, nudging Ino's shoulder slightly. "I doubt the village is more than an hour away, now." She paused and looked down at her hands. Her annoyed look was replaced by a worried one, a rare thing to appear on Temari's face, as soon as she looked back up at Ino. "Ino, it's alright to be afraid sometimes."

Ino, getting over her surprise at the look on her older friend's face, put on a fake confused look. "I don't know what you're talking about, Tema," She muttered, leaning against the tree and closing her eyes. She was relieved that Sakura wasn't there at the moment to listen in on their conversation.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't tell me otherwise. What happened last time...I understand," Temari rested a hand on Ino's shoulder that was closest to her, a serious look on her face now. "Know that we're better prepared this time. And we have a medic on our team, now. If anything happens, _and I'm not saying anything will, _maybe she'll be as hell-bent on finding you as you were for her."

The platinum blonde breathed in deeply, fighting back the unexpected burst of emotion that hit her. She smiled thankfully when a familiar brunette shinobi landed on the branch a few feet in front of them, obviously annoyed that he had to come all the way back to the two girls.

Temari's normal arrogant expression returned to her face, followed by a sly smirk when she noticed Shikamaru. "Hey! Lazy bastard! I'm gonna take a quick break, got it? Good," She nodded without giving Shikamaru time to reply, not even blinking when Neji appeared next to Shikamaru, followed by Sakura.

"C'mon, guys, we're almost there," Sakura urged them, moving closer to the two blondes. She looked worriedly at Ino when the platinum blonde haired girl looked away, as if she was hiding something. Instead of asking Ino herself, the pinkette glanced at the girl beside her questioningly. There was an obvious unspoken threat held by her look that if Temari had said anything to Ino to make her cry, she'd be in for a world of hurt.

Temari seemed amused by the look she was being given and laughed, loosely wrapping an arm around the Yamanaka's shoulders and pulling the girl towards her. "Yeah, but I'd rather not show up at the village looking like I just trained with that guy with huge eyebrows," Temari gestured to her own eyebrows, trying to come up with the name of the person she was thinking of.

"Gai. Or Lee," Ino sighed and hooked her own arm around Temari's waist, missing the protective and jealous look that flashed across Sakura's face before vanishing quickly. "They both have huge eyebrows...It's kinda disturbing," She smiled slowly, deciding to not think about how wonderful it would feel for Sakura to have an arm wrapped around her instead of Temari. She looked up, staring past Sakura (who now had her hands on her hips) and looked at Shikamaru and Neji.

"We have to get moving soon if we want to talk to anyone in the village today," Neji stated evenly, remaining uncaring to whether Temari, or Ino for that matter, was fine. The mission was supposed to be their first priority after all.

"Point taken," Temari sighed and forced herself back to her feet, smirking when Ino stood up with her and helped her catch her balance again when one of her legs jerked suddenly.

"That can't be healthy," Ino observed, slowly pulling away from Temari, as if the sandy blonde haired girl would fall as soon as she let go of her. Deciding not to comment on the look that Temari gave her that practically screamed 'you're one to talk', she stretched her arms high above her head and groaned softly when her back cracked.

"You can do it, my lover," The blonde grinned and pumped her fist in the air encouragingly and confidently. "You're so much more stubborn than this!"

Sakura frowned, not appreciating the fact that Ino had referred to Temari as 'her lover' again. She decided not to contemplate why that title bothered her so much and instead chose to taunt Temari into continuing. "Yeah, unless you're too _chicken._ Funny, I always thought you could take much more punishment than this. Seems like I was wrong."

"Like hell you were!" Temari roared, marching closer to the pinkette, who matched her glare bravely. "I could kick your ass any day, Pinky. Let's get that straight right now," She scowled when she felt finally fingers grab her shoulder, but since they seemed too weak to actually pull her back, they only served to pull their owner forward to stand beside her.

"Stop right now, you two. I don't know why you two insist on fighting over pointless things, but its got to stop before we get to the village. You'll give us away," Ino told the kunoichi. "Besides, Temari, you're supposed to be the mature one. I believe you're three years older than us? And Sakura, you should know better than to egg someone on."

Temari rolled her eyes and scoffed while Sakura simply raised an eyebrow at Ino. _Since when is she against fighting? Maybe she's matured more as her rank went higher...Woah, hold that thought. Has her rank even gone higher as of lately?_

"Ino, are you a chunin?" Sakura asked, making Temari snicker for a reason that was beyond her, Shikamaru smirk, and Neji...well, his expression didn't really change. Ino looked at Sakura oddly, making the pinkette feel suddenly defensive because of her question. "What?"

"Well, no. Nobody here is a chunin except you," The platinum blonde replied, scoffing when Sakura had the nerve to look surprised. "What did you expect? Me and Shika are nineteen, Neji's twenty, and Temari's twenty-two."

Sakura brightened up, her eyes wide. "That's so cool! Do you have your own team?" She asked quickly, ignoring Temari when she coughed to hide another snicker. She had always thought about what it would be like to have her very own team. Maybe they would be like Team Seven. History repeats itself, doesn't it?

"I'm promised one. So I'm going to have one soon," Ino shook her head slightly and pointed to Shikamaru. "That guy already has one. Neji refused one. Tem, do you have a team?" She asked, turning on her heel to face the taller blonde.

Temari shook her head. "Gaara doesn't think I can handle children," She said, looking offended only for a few moments before laughing. "C'mon, I feel much better. Let's get to the village so we can get this mission over with."

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right place?"

It would have seemed like a peaceful village had it not been for the people there. They just didn't sit well with Sakura. The pinkette looked questioningly at the rest of her temporary team when nobody answered her. _Oh, crap. How could I have forgotten? Sakura, you are SUCH an idiot._ "Ino, you wanna come change with me? I'm sure the people in that shop would be more than happy to let us use the change rooms." She looked worriedly at Ino, who looked as if she had just seen a ghost.

Ino tilted her head down and nodded, dragging her feet towards Sakura, who encouragingly clasped their hands together and started gently pulling Ino with her towards a nearby shop. She appreciated the fact that Temari had decided not to follow them.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the girls' connected hands, recalling what Ino had told him about her feelings for Sakura. He hoped Sakura could calm his good friend down enough to focus on the mission. This whole trip would be pointless if Ino was terrified the whole way through. Even Temari agreed that Ino could be the most convincing flirt if she put her mind to it.

Temari made a point to look unhappily at anyone she caught staring at her, Shikamaru, or Neji, immediatly making them wince at the fact that they had been caught and quickly look away. "I am so fed up with people always looking at us like we're freaks around here," She grumbled with displeasure.

Meanwhile, Ino was currently half lost in her thoughts and half focused on Sakura's hand. _Damn it, I have never been so torn between feeling terrified of a place and feeling happy because of a person than I am now. _Lucky for her, Sakura paused for a moment to open the shop's door. If she hadn't, the blonde would have embarrassed herself by walking right into it.

Sighing, Ino adjusted the bag that was slung over her shoulder and retreated towards the back of the shop, where the change rooms were located. She didn't feel the least bit guilty that Sakura had to greet and apologize to the shop owner because of her rude entrance. It wasn't her fault that she didn't want to be there at the moment.

"Y'know, you could have been a bit friendlier to the poor guy when you came in. Even if you would have had to fake it, at least he wouldn't be bothered by you being here," Sakura sighed, entering the change room to the left of the one that Ino had disappeared into. She wondered for a moment what Ino would look like when she finished changing.

"I'm not going to see him again after this. Why bother?" The blonde questioned curtly, hesitating for only a moment before opening up her bag and emptying out what she had called her 'whore clothes' on their last mission here. She wasn't about to stop calling them that now. "You've never seen me in my whore clothes, have you?"

"_Whore clothes?_ No, I can't say I have." Sakura grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it upwards, over her head. "I don't see the point in me changing. I mean, all I'm going to be doing is-" _Protecting you from what took you last time._ Sakura paused. "...staying with Shikamaru the whole time."

Ino was already pulling down her pants after changing into her uncomfortably tight, light blue, low-cut halter top. She preferred snug to tight. "I'm gonna suffocate in this thing..." She reached behind her and pulled out her hair tie, quickly running her fingers through her hair. "Damn it...I need to take a brush to my hair, too. I'm sure Tema has one."

"I'm sure she does," Sakura muttered sourly, adjusting her red tank top unhappily. She was used to clothing that covered her more. She blamed Temari for forcing her to buy this just for this mission. Maybe she'd give it to Ino or Tenten when they returned. Or to Naruto or Sasuke, just for a laugh.

"What, not happy about your clothes? Speak for yourself. I bet that compared to me, you're gonna look insecure with yourself." Ino twisted her mini-skirt, her mouth turned up. "I suppose that I _am_ supposed to look like a slut. Shika thinks it attracts really gross men, thinking they can pay for a good time..." She grumbled darkly, expertly pulling fishnet bands onto her arms and legs. She almost always wore them, after all. "I'm kinda offended, come to think of it."

Sakura sighed and shoved the outfit she used to be wearing into her bag before doing it up and exiting the change room. "I bet that this crap'll make running and jumping and such much harder than it should be," She observed, carefully examining her snug jeans. She found shorts much more comfortable, but that was just her.

A few minutes later, Ino left the other change room, glancing around the shop. "I need a mirror," She announced, moving towards what she knew was the girls' washrooms. Sakura followed after her, her eyebrows raised high after taking in the sight of the blonde in front of her. Lightly blushing, the pinkette silently sighed with relief after realizing that Ino didn't seem to be paying attention to her when they stopped in front of the large mirror in the washroom. Instead, the Yamanaka was now digging around in her bag. Out of the things that she pulled out, Sakura could identify eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick.

"I'm gonna gain, like...five pounds just from all this shit I put on," Ino raked her fingers through her hair once more before grasping the lipstick. The easiest thing to put on. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an amused look cross Sakura's face. "Somethin' funny? Look, I know you think it's ironic that I'm complaining about looking like a slut, since I'm sure you think I am one, but it's not reason to laugh."

"I don't think you're a slut," Sakura said quickly, looking surprised that Ino thought that. "I just find it funny that when you're annoyed, grumpy, angry, or any other mood like that, you curse in practically every other sentence. It's kinda new to me, since you never cursed as far as I can remember when we were fourteen and younger." At the bothered look on Ino's face, the pinkette paused, trying to remember if she had said anything she shouldn't have.

"People change," Ino said in a forced monotonous, indifferent tone. "They just never see it when they've been with that person at least once a week. When you're gone for five years, then suddenly come back, you tend to notice some changes."

"Sorry," Sakura immediatly apologized, trying to look casually at the wall to make it seem like what Ino said hadn't bothered her. When she found that she didn't like the silence that had started between them, she quietly excused herself from Ino's company, telling the shop owner that she was going to be back. Maybe Temari did have a brush for Ino.

When she got to the Sand kunoichi in question, the Haruno was surprised enough to stop for a moment at the sight of Temari practically screaming at some man, who she knew was putting on a fake disinterested expression. There was hardly anyone who wouldn't be even the least bit frightened by an angry Temari, and she could tell that this man wasn't one of them.

"Woah, Temari!" Momentarily forgetting about how Temari could possibly still be angry at her for calling her 'chicken', Sakura jogged up to the sandy blonde and grasped her arm, pulling her away from the man. Deciding not to ask where Neji and Shikamaru were, she spun Temari around to face her, which proved to be a bit difficult, since Temari was taller than her. "What possessed you to start screaming at that guy?"

"I don't like his attitude!" Temari actually lunged towards the man again only to be yanked back by the strong pinkette, who was still latched firmly onto her arm. She tossed an angry glare at the Haruno before looking back at the man again. He had snickered at her because she was being pulled back by an extremely girly-looking (namely because of the pink hair and new outfit) nineteen year old.

"Temari, calm yourself down. Picking fights with people isn't going to help," The pinkette waited until the man was gone before releasing the angry Sand kunoichi from her grip. "Now, Ino was wondering if you had a brush she could use."

"Oh, yeah. I do." Temari bent down and fished her brush from her bag, tossing it to Sakura (who easily caught it) before standing back up and glancing around. "Shikamaru and Neji should be back before you two are. They just quickly went back to set up camp outside of the village."

"Alright" Sakura nodded before jogging back towards the shop, silently waving farewell over her shoulder to Temari before disappearing into the building and making a beeline straight to the washrooms. "Ino! I got Temari's brush!"

The blonde paused, half way through applying mascara. She slowly looked at the seemingly eager pinkette who had just randomly burst back into the washroom with Temari's brush held high, as if she had just won it in a competition. "Mhm...That's wonderful, Forehead."

"Here...I'll brush your hair." Sakura moved behind Ino, taking a moment to look at Ino's long blonde hair. She couldn't remember when it had ever been this long, and rarely had she ever seen it out of it's normal ponytail. When she did see it loose, she never really thought about it that much.

"You sure?" Ino looked towards the mirror again, internally smiling at the reflection of her and Sakura together. _If only..._

"I'm positive. Least I can do, huh?"

* * *

Ino scoffed irritably when, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Temari give her a stern, annoyed look. "I look like such a tramp..." She muttered under her breath, continuing to pace up and down the length of the sidewalk. Well, the length of part of the sidewalk. She only went as far as where Temari was hiding, turned, went past Sakura and Shikamaru, then turned and went back towards the pinkette and the Nara after she reached Neji.

"Doesn't this make for a lovely story? Yes, I'm Yamanaka Ino and when I was nineteen, I ran the streets. That's right, I _worked_ the corner. Nobody ever gave me just one glance," The blonde continued to mutter under her breath, sighing with annoyance when, after going past Temari again, she noticed the older kunoichi mouthing '_Just fucking do it!'_ to her. Not wanting to be put through her ex's wrath, she focused on making her hips sway more than they naturally did. _Psh. Did I say tramp? I meant whore. I. Look. Like. A. Whore._

As casually as she possibly could, Sakura tilted her head up. Shikamaru and herself, instead of hiding around the side of a building like Neji and Temari were doing, were leaning up against a building and pretending to look like they didn't even see Ino. Sakura couldn't help but be amused by the irritated look on Ino's face when she started moving her hips more. Like many times before, Sakura decided not to stress herself out with questioning herself on the fact that she had caught herself absently staring at the blonde's rear while the Yamanaka was walking away from them.

The pinkette _did_ expect the surge of protectiveness when a tall man with black hair stopped beside Ino and put a hand on her waist, forcing the blonde to stop and plaster on a fake sultry smile. Even if this seemingly perverted man couldn't see it, both Sakura and Shikamaru could tell that Ino was not enjoying the hand on her waist. Or even the man's company in general.

"Hey, sexy. Lookin' for someone like me?" The man asked in his best flirtatious tone, offering up a grin. Ino inwardly cringed, trying not to show how this whole situation was making her remember things that she, in all honesty, wished to forget about completely. Still, she had gotten good at displaying emotions different than the ones she was currently feeling from experience with Sakura. Obviously.

The blonde gingerly set her hands against the man's chest and leaned forward slightly. She paid attention to every little thing she was doing. The pressure she was putting on his chest couldn't be too much, lest she not come off as vulnerable, and that was the impression she had to work towards. Her eyes couldn't be completely open or else the emotion in her eyes would tell him otherwise than what her smirk was doing. So they had to be only half-open.

_Fucking disgusting, perverted, dirty, cocky, weak-_

"Like you? Of course. I was looking for the best, after all," Ino took a moment to let her words sink in, trying hard not to even glance at Sakura or Shikamaru. She flexed her fingers slightly against his chest, not letting her smirk falter one bit when she felt the man's other hand touch her waist, then both of his hands slip underneath her shirt, no matter how tight it was, and move upwards. _Touching my fucking bra! In public!_

"So, what's your name, hot stuff?" The man asked, obviously feeling confident that his actions were doing _something_ to Ino. It didn't occur to him that the pleased expression on the rather exposed blonde's face was fake and that she had had received a pang of fright at the question, namely how he had worded it.

_It's the same._ But Ino kept her flirtatious expression. She kept her practiced stance, not letting herself pull away from this man like she wanted to do.

"Emi. My name's Emi."

From somewhere behind her, Neji's eyebrows rose quickly, Shikamaru's head snapped up, and Temari let out a short, sharp gasp. Sakura just narrowed her eyes.

* * *

_Shikamaru groaned quietly, silently willing Ino to hurry up with this man. His legs were getting sore from crouching in the bush that he had quickly chose as his hiding spot. He wondered how Temari and Neji were doing. Maybe Ino was taking so long because she was busy wondering about them as well. He couldn't help but be worried about his temporary teammates. What if they were in danger? He would have no way of knowing. Still, he decided that he really should have some confidence in them. They were older than himself and Ino, after all. If anything, they should be worried about them rather than the other way around._

_"What's your name, hot stuff?"_

_The Nara boy looked up with irritation, not quite believing his ears. That was such an over-used nickname that it wasn't even funny to him. It just annoyed him. However, after the question clicked in, Shikamaru wondered worriedly if Ino had even thought up a name ahead of time. They hadn't discussed it. In fact, he didn't think that Ino had even thought about giving herself a fake name. On that thought, he hoped that his female childhood friend knew that it wasn't a smart idea to use her actual name in this situation._

_From where he was crouched, Shikamaru could see Ino grin slightly larger and lean forward slightly more, as if she was about to tell a secret or share some gossip that wasn't for anyone else's ears. Still, he heard the blonde clearly when she introduced herself with a (thankfully) fake name._

_"Emi. My name's Emi."_

_Emi. Shikamaru frowned, finding the name to be odd. Ino didn't seem like an 'Emi' to him._

* * *

Wow, where do I start? This took SO long to update, especially with internet problems and with my brother deciding he's gonna be brave and start kicking me off the computer. Psh. I blame _Guild Wars_. We've installed it on this computer and, admittedly, it is kinda fun to play. Really sucks that I don't know anyone on it, though. Oh well.

Now we have two original character, Karite and Tantou. Hopefully you weren't too pissed off when I introduced _original_ character. No worries, they're just the villains. Two of them, anyway. I like Tantou with her crazy mood swings and Karite with her perverted-ness. And according to some english to japanese translator my friend pointed out to me (so don't blame me if these little translations are wrong), 'Tantou' means 'dagger' or 'charge (in)' and 'Karite' means 'reaper'.

_Anyway_, I was kinda expecting more from the flashback at the end. I've had that one in mind for the longest time, but I pictured it to be longer. Ehh. I suppose I shouldn't make things too long or else people might start skipping some stuff. This chapter was basically just a filler type thing that just introduced Karite and Tantou (however vague their current descriptions may be). And let's not forget that I also used this chapter to get the team to the village. I know as soon as I say this that some things might click in some people's heads, but let's see if you people reading now can make the _connection_ that is evident in this chapter.

Also, I've been reading another InoSaku story by **millas14** called High School Bites! She updates really quickly. Much faster than I do.

- Flower Cynic


End file.
